The Greater Good (The fourth story in the Bargaining Chip Saga) HIATUS
by can08writer
Summary: A new society poses a new threat to Rick and Michonne's family, and they're targeting the most vulnerable. Can former enemies become new allies when everyone's way of life is at risk?
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's note_** ** _: This story takes place five years after the events of my previous story 'Us and Them (the third story in the Bargaining Chip Saga)'. If you haven't read the other three stories in this series, 'Bargaining Chip', 'Rite of Passage', or 'Us and Them', I would suggest reading them before continuing so you know the backstory of some of the new characters, but you can also just read from this story too. I hope you enjoy, and please review and let me know what you think about this beginning chapter!_**

It had been five years since the Walker People's attack on the Hilltop. Five years since the birth of Rick and Michonne's son Mhare, and Carl and Enid's daughter Carla. After many of the Hilltop's residents were slaughtered by the Walker People, the Kingdom and Alexandria stepped in, helping to restore order and peace. Many residents from the other communities had moved in to the Hilltop, increasing the population once again. The alliance between the three communities were as strong as ever. Jesus had died during the Walker People attack, and Carl had taken a temporary leadership role at the Hilltop until elections could be held for a permanent leader. Although Carl had no intention of remaining leader at Hilltop, he had been nominated along with three other candidates. When he found out, he asked for Rick and Michonne's advice and they had encouraged him to go through with campaigning. Carl reluctantly accepted the nomination, and after a month of campaigning, debates, and tough town hall meetings, Carl was voted in as the official leader of the Hilltop.

Judith's tenth birthday was rapidly approaching, and Rick wanted to do something special for his daughter's milestone. He, Carl, and two more people from Hilltop's defense team, had left on a run the week before to bring back some much-needed supplies for both Alexandria and the Hilltop, but also to bring back something special for Judy. At first, when Michonne and Enid had heard of Rick and Carl's idea, and where they would be going, they both were immediately against it. The women felt that a trip of that magnitude was too much of a risk, but Rick and Carl's insistence on doing this for Judy wore Michonne down. She reluctantly agreed to the trip, even though she knew she'd be a mess, worrying about both her husband and her son. When Michonne consented, Enid reluctantly did as well, knowing how much this trip would mean to Carl's little sister.

While the men in her life were away, Michonne was holding down the fort and planning for Judy's birthday party that would happen that weekend. She hoped that the men would be back in time and not miss Judy's party, but being on the road was unpredictable, and it was already Thursday, the day the men were expected to return. Judy had no idea why her father had gone on the run, but she was already upset that Rick wasn't back yet, and Michonne had to constantly ease her fears that her daddy wouldn't be at her birthday party. Michonne knew that if there was any way for Rick and Carl to be back on time, they would be.

Michonne had just gotten out of a meeting with Glenn and four other members of Alexandria's defense team. They had noticed some rusting and cracks while doing a sweep of the community's wall, and they wanted it mentioned to the construction crew so they could do repairs. Michonne hurried from the meeting to pick up Judy and Joy who were at school, held in the community's church. As she approached, she could hear the loud noises of children talking and laughing inside, and the sounds made her smile. She opened the door and entered, taking in the scene of children of various ages excitedly talking and playing, while parents showed up little by little to take their children home. Michonne made her way down the church's main aisle to look for her daughters, when she heard her name being called. She turned to see Sherry, calling her. Michonne had met Sherry when she had been taken hostage by Negan years ago. While Michonne was kept in Negan's compound, Sherry who had been one of Negan's wives had taken care of Michonne, and the two of them had become good friends over the years. Sherry was one of Alexandria's two teachers, and had taught both Judith and Joy, and would eventually teach Rick and Michonne's son Mhare when he became old enough.

"Michonne, I need to talk to you for a moment" Sherry said, pulling her over to a corner of the church sanctuary. She lowered her voice so the other children and parents who had come to pick up their children wouldn't hear the conversation. "Uh, Judy had a little argument today with Darien. I had to break 'em up, and both of 'em were put in the corner until they cooled down."

Michonne looked at Sherry in surprise. "Judy? What were they arguing about?" she asked, searching the room until she noticed Judy sitting on one of the pews in the front of the church by herself.

"I don't know how it started, all I heard was 'em yellin' at each other, and then Judy screamed 'my mom's gonna kill you!'"

Michonne's mouth dropped open and her head snapped to look at Judy, who had been stealthily watching the conversation between her mother and her teacher. When Judy saw Michonne look in her direction she quickly faced forward in her pew, pretending to be fascinated by the stained glass windows in the front of the church. "She said that?" Michonne asked Sherry.

Sherry nodded. "It's very unlike her. I'm not sure what's gotten into her, but I think you need to talk to her."

Michonne nodded her head. "Thanks Sherry" she replied, making her way over to Judy. The nine year old was sitting in her pew, staring straight ahead. Michonne slowly approached and sat down next to her daughter.

"What happened Judy? I know you saw Ms. Sherry and I talking" Michonne said, cutting to the chase. Judy looked around at the other people still gathered in the church.

"Mommy, can I tell you later?" Judy asked, surprising Michonne with her mature request. Michonne glanced over at her daughter as the girl continued to look straight ahead.

"Yea, ok" Michonne agreed. "Let's get Joy and Mhare, we'll go home, and then we'll talk."

"Joy's in the rectory. They're painting in there. Want me to get her?" Judy asked.

"Go ahead" Michonne agreed, and Judith quickly left to get Joy. She was back a minute later with her sister in tow.

"Hey mommy!" Joy said happily, wrapping her arms around Michonne's waist.

"Hey Joyjoy, what were you painting back there?" Michonne asked, ruffling the girl's curly hair.

Joy proudly held up a wildly realistic painting of nine people, who Michonne promptly recognized as her family. Joy had always been a natural artist, and her painting skills were far beyond the average eight year old. Joy had painted Rick holding Mhare as the five year old's arms reached up to the sky. Joy was a detailed artist, and had taken the time to include flecks of white in Rick's beard, and Mhare's scar on his right leg. Next to Rick and Mhare, she had painted herself, Michonne, and Judith smiling happily as they sat in the grass picking flowers. She was careful to paint herself with her hair braided, her favorite hairstyle, while Michonne's hair was pulled up into a ponytail, a style that Michonne rarely wore. Judith had on a long, flowing sundress which was nothing like the jeans that they all usually wore. Carl, Enid, Carla, and Tommy were also in the background, holding hands. Michonne was overwhelmed by the detail and care put into the painting.

"This is beautiful Joyjoy. Wow!" Michonne gasped. "How long did it take you to do all this?"

"A few hours. My class voted it the best painting."

"I can see why. It's amazing honey. I'm so proud of you" Michonne said, squeezing Joy to her. "Wait until your dad sees it."

"Look Judy, you like it?" Joy asked, showing the painting to her sister.

Judy studied the painting closely, looking over the details. "It's really nice Joyjoy. You did a good job" Judy confirmed, and Joy beamed at her sister's praise. Michonne could tell something was bothering Judy, but she was putting on a polite face for her sister's benefit.

"Mommy, can I put it up over the mantle?" Joy asked proudly.

"Definitely. C'mon let's get Mhare and go home."

The three of them trekked over to Lisa's house, a woman in her late twenties who babysat the younger children who weren't yet in school. Ms. Ellie, the previous town babysitter had passed away as did many of the older Alexandrians. Despite this, their population was slowly growing as more and more people had babies, now that things were more stable and had been for years.

When Michonne opened the door to Lisa's house Mhare greeted her with a loud "Mommy!"

"C'mere peanut" Michonne called, opening her arms. The bushy haired boy ran to his mother, leaping into her arms. Although he had fair skin that favored Rick, all of his features were Michonne's, down to his large beautiful brown eyes, his brown hair, full nose and lips, and his pout when he didn't get his way.

"What did you do with Ms. Lisa today?" she asked, cuddling her little boy.

"We played duck duck duck" Mhare said, fiddling with one of Michonne's waist length locs. She let out a chuckle.

"You mean duck duck goose?" she asked.

"No mommy. Duck duck duck! Quack quack quack!" he said, laughing.

"Come on you silly boy" she said, tickling his belly, "let's go home."

"Mommy, I wanna hold Judy's hand" Mhare insisted, wiggling from her arms. She couldn't help but smirk as Mhare raced over to Judy and grasped her hand, eliciting a small smile from his sister's lips. Judy loved her little brother, and she was his favorite person.

Joy held Michonne's hand as they walked back to their house. "Mommy will we see Carl soon? I want him to see my picture" Joy said.

"Yes, he's coming here with Enid, Tommy, and Carla for Judy's birthday party on Saturday."

"He is?" Judy asked, word of her older brother snapping her out of her sour mood.

"Of course he is, you know he wouldn't miss your birthday" Michonne said.

Judy smiled a little more as they finally reached the house. Michonne unlocked the door and the three children ran inside, instantly going in three different directions.

"Wait a minute Judy!". Michonne called the girl who was about to sprint up the steps to her room. Judy slowly turned around with a pout on her face, her long brown hair swinging behind her.

"We need to talk" Michonne said, gesturing with her head for Judy to sit with her on the couch. Judy sighed and walked over to the couch slowly, dragging her feet.

"Ms. Sherry said you got into an argument today" Michonne said, turning to her daughter who was looking down at her hands. Judy didn't respond. "You wanna tell me what you were arguing about?" Michonne asked. Judy continued to stare at her hands and Michonne patiently waited. She knew the girl would speak eventually, when she was ready. After a minute and a half of silence, Judy let out a deep sigh, and Michonne watched as the girl physically crumbled in on herself as tears welled up in her eyes. Michonne reached out and wrapped an arm around Judy and she came apart, sobbing into Michonne's shoulder.

Michonne rubbed Judy's back as she cried. "What happened Judy? What is it?" she asked.

"I got 100 on my spelling test, and Darien was mad that I got higher than him. Darien said I was weird because I don't look like anyone else in the family. He said Joy and Mhare look like you, and Carl looks like daddy, but I don't look like anybody. He said his dad heard that my mom died because of me. He said I killed her. He called me 'mom killer'."

Michonne couldn't hide the rage that sparked within her at the thought of this little boy telling her daughter that she killed her mother.

"He shouldn't've said that" Michonne said, stroking Judy's hair. "It was very mean of him."

"Is it true?" Judy asked, pulling away from Michonne's shoulder to look her in the eye. "Did Lori die because of me?"

"No Judy. No. Of course not. There are some things that your father and I need to talk to you about. Some things you deserve to know, about how your mom Lori died. We were waiting until you were old enough and mature enough to understand, but I think you're able to understand now. When your dad gets home we'll talk to you together, but I want you to know that Lori did not die because of you."

Judy wiped her eye with the back of her hand.

"There's something else I want to talk to you about. Ms. Sherry said you told that little boy, Darien, that I was going to kill him?" Michonne asked.

Judy looked down at her hands again. "I was so mad. He kept calling me 'mom killer' and I just wanted him to stop, so I told him you would kill him, to make him shut up."

"Do you want me to?" Michonne asked, raising one eyebrow.

Judy's eyes widened and she stared at her mother. "No mommy! I don't want you to kill him" Judy said, looking horrified.

Michonne smirked. "I know you don't, Judy. I know you were angry, but you can't threaten people just because they make you mad. Even if they _are_ really annoying. A threat is very serious now-a-days, and you never threaten to kill someone unless you intend to go through with it."

"Can I threaten to punch him in the face instead?" Judy mumbled.

 _'_ _If he calls you 'mom killer' one more time,_ _ **I**_ _just might'_ Michonne thought.

"If he puts his hands on you, you can defend yourself, but you don't hit anyone unless you're defending yourself from an attack. You know that" Michonne said, "but you can tell Darien that if he keeps calling you 'mom killer', I'm going to talk to his dad."

 _I'm gonna talk to his loudmouth dad anyway. How dare he gossip about my daughter. He needs to keep my child's business out of his mouth_ Michonne thought.

"Okay, I will. But are you going to tell daddy?" Judy asked softly.

"Yes, I will. And both of us will talk to you together when he gets home. He and Carl and everyone else should be here by Friday at least."

Judy sighed. "Do you think I'll get in trouble?"

Michonne chuckled to herself. Between she and Rick, she was the disciplinarian. Rick was more likely to praise Judy for not punching the boy for calling her 'mom killer'.

"We'll see if there will be a punishment. For now, go wash your hands and then come help me make dinner."

"Okay" Judy said, hopping up and skipping to the bathroom.

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After dinner, Michonne put Mhare to bed. His room was Judy's old bedroom, and although it was small, he loved having his own room. Various art projects that he'd done at Ms. Lisa's house, or at home, were stuck to the walls. He had a bookshelf with various children's books that he loved, and several kindergarten workbooks that Rick had found at an abandoned Barnes and Nobles. Michonne's favorite thing in Mhare's room was a picture he'd drawn of his family. Everyone in the picture were indistinguishable blobs, but the blob that was supposed to be hers had a long sword, and Rick's had a semi-recognizable gun that was supposed to be his Colt Python.

Michonne supervised as her son brushed his teeth and put on his pajamas in preparation for bed. As she watched him, she couldn't help but think back to how tiny he was when he was born. He was born prematurely after Michonne was stabbed in the abdomen by Alpha, leader of a group called Walker People, during the attack on the Hilltop. Judy had amazingly kept both Michonne and Mhare alive by having the wherewithal to press down on her wound. It was amazing, as Judy was only five years old at the time and there were no other adults around to help her. Mhare was ripped from Michonne's abdomen via emergency C-section by Enid, who saved both of their lives, but Enid had to do the surgery on Michonne without anesthesia or any medical guidance, as Dr. Carson was killed in the attack. Mhare had survived against all the odds, the only reminder of his near-death experience was a long scar on his right thigh, left by the knife that almost killed him before he was born. Mhare was special to Rick, the only one of his children that he'd named. His name meant 'warrior' in Shona, the language Michonne's family spoke.

Michonne helped Mhare into bed and sat on the side of it. "Do you want me to read you a story? Or sing?" Michonne asked him.

"I want you to sing mommy" Mhare said, settling into his sheets. She could tell he was tired and would be asleep soon.

"Ok, but after I finish the song you have to go to bed ok? No water, no bathroom breaks, no fooling around" Michonne warned. She was well aware of the tactics Mhare would use to get out of bedtime.

"Okay" he agreed.

Michonne placed her hand on the boy's head and gently stroked his hair as she sang him the same lullaby her mother would sing her every night. "A child, a holy child, fast asleep beneath a winter sky, is warm at rest at His mother's breast, as she sings her lullaby. The lambs, the cattle too, are sleeping in a bed of hay, and all around there's no other sound than lullaby, lullay. Lullaby, lullay, sleep well, my precious one, lullaby my love, my only son, new life has now begun. So, the story goes, once upon a winter morn, a tiny boy bringing love and joy, the Prince of Peace was born."

Mhare let out a yawn as soon as Michonne finished. "Goodnight Mhare" Michonne said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"Mommy, can you sing it again?" Mhare asked, trying to stall for a few more minutes.

"Nope. Good try though" Michonne said with a chuckle, "goodnight my little warrior".

Mhare let out another yawn. "Goodnight mommy" he said. Michonne stood up and closed the door in slightly, but left it open knowing Mhare wanted the light from the hallway to shine into his room until he fell asleep.

She headed to the room that Joy and Judy shared. It had previously been Carl's room before he moved to the Hilltop with Enid. The girls weren't very happy about having to share a room, especially when Mhare got his own. Judy complained, but Michonne didn't want Mhare and Joy to share, as the two of them were young, and would constantly fight and bicker if left on their own. To satisfy Judy, they agreed that when she turned ten, she could move to the empty downstairs bedroom that Michonne used to sleep in when they first moved to Alexandria. Rick was nervous about his daughter sleeping on the first floor by herself. He and Michonne had had many discussions on the issue, and she knew all of Rick's excuses. "What about an attack? What if Walkers get in the gates?". Michonne finally convinced Rick that he had to give Judy space to grow. She was getting older and deserved more freedom, and so they agreed that after her party, Judy would sleep in her own bedroom. Her belongings were already moved to the other bedroom, and she was excited about finally getting her own space.

"Okay, who's turn is it to pick the story?" Michonne asked as she opened the door to her daughters' bedroom. Every night, Michonne, Rick, or both of them together would tell the girls a story, or read one before they went to bed. The girls alternated who got to pick. "It's my turn" Judy said, "but Joyjoy can pick tonight."

Michonne paused. Judy had never before given up her night to pick a story. Even Joy turned to her sister in surprise. "You sure?" Michonne asked, studying her daughter closely. Judy nodded her head silently. "Ok, can you read more of the Goosebumps book mommy?" Joy asked, quickly taking advantage of her sister's generosity.

Michonne picked up the Goosebumps book that she had raided from a library while on a run. They had stopped on chapter 5, and Michonne read two more chapters to the girls as they listened. Chapter 7 ended on a cliffhanger and the girls groaned when Michonne ended her story time with "to be continued…"

"Oh, come on, you can't just end like that" Joy complained.

"Well you have two options, my love. You can wait until tomorrow night to find out what happens, or, you can read it yourself when you wake up" Michonne said, kissing Joy on the forehead. Joy rolled her eyes at her mother and pouted. Michonne ignored her grumpy daughter and kissed Judy on the forehead as well.

"Mommy, will daddy and Carl be back tomorrow? They were supposed to be back today" Judy asked, and Michonne understood what was troubling her.

"I'm sure they'll be here tomorrow if they can. Maybe they just had some car trouble and had to find another one. Don't worry honey. You know daddy will _run_ back here just to be here for your party on Saturday."

Judy nodded, and Michonne turned off the light in the girls' bedroom before whispering "goodnight" and closing the door. She headed back to her bedroom with a sigh. Michonne was worried about Rick and Carl as well. She stripped her clothes off and dumped them in the hamper, and then took a warm shower, trying to ease her fears about where Rick and Carl could be. When she finally crawled into bed it was 12 a.m. and she was exhausted. _They'll be back tomorrow_ she thought, before she drifted off to sleep.

A muffled thump coming from downstairs, startled Michonne from her sleep. Her eyes shot open and she sat up straight in her bed to listen. There was silence for a few seconds, and then she could clearly hear someone walking around downstairs. It sounded like they were walking softly to stay quiet.

Like a cat, Michonne leaped out of bed on the balls of her feet, carefully not to creak any of the floorboards and give herself away. She grabbed her katana which was on the table next to her side of the bed, and crept to her bedroom door wearing a t-shirt and a pair of panties. The noises from downstairs were getting closer, and whoever it was, was only a few feet away from the base of the stairs. Michonne pushed her door open slightly so that she could see anyone who tried to sneak up the steps. She and Rick's room was the first room that an intruder would have to pass, and when they first moved to Alexandria Rick had picked this room for a reason. Anyone trying to hurt his family would have to get through him first, and Michonne had the same sentiment. She could hear heavy creaking as the person made their way upstairs, their booted feet pounding the stairs. Michonne slowly lowered her katana and rolled her eyes. She knew those footsteps too well.

The intruder made it up the steps and paused in front of her door. Michonne silently moved behind the door and held her breath. The door let out a creak as the person slowly pushed it open and took a step into the room. Michonne pressed her back against the wall as a figure gradually crept towards the bed. Michonne tiptoed behind the prowler, and with cat-like reflexes she simultaneously dropped her katana and leaped on his back, covering his eyes with her hands.

"Ahhh!" Rick screamed in surprise, totally taken off guard. Michonne wrapped her legs around his waist, still attached to his back. "That's what you get for creeping around my house at 2 a.m" she whispered into his ear.

Rick let out a chuckle. " _Your_ house?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't stutter" Michonne declared.

"Well I'm sorry for creepin' around your house at 2 a.m, but I just got back. Uh… you gonna get off my back any time soon?" Rick asked with a chuckle.

"Why should I?" Michonne asked in a sultry voice, squeezing her legs even more tightly around Rick's waist.

"'Cuz I wanna show you how much I've missed you" Rick replied, reaching behind himself and firmly smacking Michonne's rear end.

Michonne giggled and unlocked her legs from around Rick, removing her hands from his eyes. He reached out to wrap his arms around her but she deftly dodged him.

"You're late" she said accusingly, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I know, we had a few setbacks, but everyone is ok, and I'm home" Rick explained, moving towards her like a predator.

"Where's Carl?" Michonne asked, backing away from him elusively.

"Dropped him off at Hilltop. He and the family are coming later today" Rick said, reaching his arms towards Michonne's waist.

"What'd you find?" Michonne asked, unable to hide her giggle as Rick swiped for her and missed.

"I'm not telling you anything else until you come here" Rick warned, narrowing his eyes.

"And if I don't?" Michonne asked, teasingly running her hand up and down her belly, underneath her shirt.

"Must you be difficult, woman?" Rick asked, unbuttoning his jeans. "I haven't seen you in over a week. I've been out there with three other men, one of them being our son, killing walkers, driving long distances, and scavenging in dark, dirty, rotten houses, and all I want is to feel up my drop dead gorgeous wife, maybe get lucky if I'm lucky, and go to sleep for a few hours. Can I have that?".

Michonne smiled at Rick. "I'm drop dead gorgeous?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"You're an eleven out of ten" Rick said, stepping out of his jeans and letting them drop to the floor. "You're a fifteen, a twenty, a thirty! Can I get a kiss now?"

Michonne rolled her eyes the same way Joy had earlier, and reached out her arms to Rick, who crashed into her and lifted her off the floor.

"Mmmmm" he moaned as he held her tight, "you smell so good"

"And you smell like Walkers" Michonne joked, kissing the side of Rick's face.

"Fine" Rick said, promptly turning with Michonne in his arms and marching towards the bathroom.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Michonne asked as she tried to wiggle out of Rick's arms.

"You said I stink, so _we're_ taking a shower" Rick said, unceremoniously dumping Michonne into the shower with him.

"Hey, _I_ don't stink…" Michonne began, but Rick interrupted her with his lips on hers, taking her breath away. He cornered her up against a wall of the shower, placing his arms on either side of her to pin her there. He then stealthily reached for the knob, turning the shower on and wetting them both.

"Rick!" Michonne squealed, trying to pull her lips away from his, "Wait! Wait! You're getting me wet!"

"Just the way I like you" Rick growled, devouring her again.

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At six a.m, the couple was awoken by a small yet insistent knock at the door.

"Yea?" Michonne called groggily.

"Mommy, I'm hungry" Mhare called from the other side of the door. Michonne lay with her head resting on Rick's chest for a few seconds, too tired to move. "Your son's hungry" she mumbled to him.

"I thought he was _ours_ " Rick replied with his eyes still closed.

"When it's before 6:30, he's yours" Michonne joked.

Rick chuckled and swiped his hands across his eyes, wiping the crust away. He let out a yawn as he stretched, sitting up and causing Michonne's head to roll off his chest. Michonne stretched as well, splaying her arms and legs across the bed until her back cracked.

"Mommy!" Mhare called.

"Okay, daddy's coming" Michonne called.

"Daddy's here?" Mhare screamed excitedly. She could hear him bouncing around outside of the door. "Judy, Joy, daddy's here!" he called to his sisters.

"Well, there's no way I'm getting any more sleep with the ruckus that's about to go down, so I suppose _we're_ making breakfast together today" Michonne replied, swinging her legs from the bed.

Rick pulled on a pair of boxers, and Michonne settled for a robe when the sounds outside of their bedroom door grew, as Judy and Joy bolted from their room and pounded down the hallway.

"Daddy? Where? Are you making that up?" Judy asked Mhare.

"Mommy said daddy's here!" Mhare yelled defensively.

"Where? I don't see him" Joy said skeptically.

"I'm right here guys, give me a second!" Rick called, slipping his feet into his slippers. When he opened the door, he was practically tackled by his children. "Daddy!" they yelled, clinging to him.

"Daddy, come look at the picture I made in art class!"

"Did you bring me a present?"

"I knew you'd come back for my party!"

The three children were speaking so quickly and loudly it sounded like a roar of excited words and giggles.

"I've missed you" Rick said, giving each of them a squeeze. "I would love to look at the picture after we eat breakfast, yes I did get you a present, and of course I'd be back here for my girl's party" Rick said, answering all three children.

Michonne smiled as her children climbed all over their father. Not wanting to break up the reunion, she squeezed past them on her way downstairs, to take out the ingredients so that she and Rick could make everyone breakfast.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

"Rick, we need to talk to Judy" Michonne said. The two of them had dropped Joy and Judy off at the church for school, and Mhare was at Ms. Lisa's house, but Michonne didn't have a guard duty shift on the wall until later in the day. They were walking back to their home, hand in hand.

"About what?" Rick asked.

"She had an argument in school yesterday. Darien told her that she killed her mom, and he was taunting her. She told him that I would kill him."

"He told her what?" Rick asked loudly, spinning around like he was about to march back to the church.

Michonne grabbed his arm to calm him down. "He overheard his father talking about Judy. I don't know how his father knows any of our business, but that's a separate issue."

"Did that boy get in trouble?" Rick asked, tilting his head as he spoke.

"Both of them were put in time out, but Judy was understandably upset. She asked me if Lori died because of her."

Rick sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I told her of course not, but that you and I were going to talk to her about how her mom died."

Rick rubbed his eyes with his hands. "I knew I'd have to talk to her one day, but I didn't expect to do it so soon. I… I don't know what to say. I don't know how to explain that to a nine year old."

"Ten. She's gonna be ten. Not much younger than Carl was when he helped deliver her. And she was there when I almost died with Mhare. _She_ was the one who saved me long enough for Enid to get there. I think she's old enough to understand, Rick."

Rick turned back towards their home and began to walk, Michonne following his lead. "I know. I know she is. It's just… she's growin' up so fast. I want her to hold on to some of her innocence, y'know? This world is brutal enough, without her knowing her mom died giving birth to her."

Michonne reached out and wrapped one of her arms around Rick's shoulder. "I know. But be thankful that she's growing up. It means we did good. She's okay, and she's happy, and she's growing. All the kids are. We're good parents."

Rick turned to Michonne and smiled. "We are. And you're a great mom. But uh… can you do most of the talking on this one? You always know the right thing to say. I'm afraid I might screw it up, like that sex talk I had with Carl."

Michonne bust out laughing. "You mean the one when he told you he already knew about safe sex, and that _we_ were having sex too loudly?"

"Yea, I think it's best for everyone if you take the lead on this one" Rick admitted.

"Wimp" Michonne teased.

"I won't dispute that title" Rick said, grinning.

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That night, after dinner, Rick showed the family the gifts that he'd picked out for them whilst on his run. Mhare was thrilled when Rick brought back a stuffed Batman doll for him, with matching Batman sheets, a couple of Batman t-shirts, socks, and even Batman underwear. Mhare was so excited, he begged Michonne if he could put on the t-shirt, socks, and underwear and wear it to bed. She declined, but said he could wear it to Judy's party the next day. Joy got new clothing as well, two books, and a doll. When it was time for Judy to get her gift, Rick and Michonne asked the other children to go upstairs. They wanted to speak to Judy privately, before she got the gift that Rick had gone on the run to pick up in the first place. They asked Judy to sit on the couch, and Michonne sat down next to her, as Rick stood in front of them both.

"Mommy told me about the argument you had" Rick said softly.

Judy just looked down with her hands in her lap.

"She told me that someone was saying some very mean things to you. Things that aren't true, about your mom, Lori."

"Yea" Judy said, continuing to look down at her hands.

"I told you that Lori died when you were very young, and that was true. But I never told you how exactly she died."

Judy looked up, Rick had grabbed her attention. She leaned forwards slightly.

"I loved your mom, Judy. I was married to her for a long time, and we loved each other, and Carl. And she loved you too. In fact, she loved you so much, that she did something very brave for you. When she started to go into labor with you, there were a lot of things going on. Someone was attacking us, and we were all in different places. She, Carl, and Auntie Maggie were together, when she started to go into labor."

"Like when mommy had Mhare?" Judy asked.

"Yes" Michonne cut in, "just like when I had Mhare."

Rick continued, "when Lori began to give birth to you, there was a problem, and you couldn't be born. There were no doctors around, and no one knew how to get you out of her, and if you didn't come out of her, you would die and she would die. We didn't have anyone like Enid, who could help. Your mom made a brave choice Judy, she was so brave. She decided that she wanted you to live, no matter what happened to her. She loved you so much, and she only wanted you to live. So, we got you out of her before she died."

"How did you get me out?" Judy asked Rick.

"Auntie Maggie had to cut you out of her, just like how Mhare was cut out of mommy" Rick explained.

"So, I killed her? She… she _did_ die because of me?" Judy asked, her eyes filling up with tears.

Michonne placed her hands on Judy's. "No Judy. No. She would've died no matter what. She knew it. She made the decision that you didn't have to, too. Remember when I told Enid to save Mhare, no matter what?"

Judy nodded her head, she remembered Michonne saying that to Enid, but she didn't know what that meant at the time.

"Just like I was going to make sure Mhare lived, no matter what, Lori wanted to make sure that you lived. If I had died that night, would it have been Mhare's fault?" Michonne asked.

"No, I guess not. He was just a little baby"

"Exactly, and so were you, when Lori died. It wasn't your fault. She loved you, and she gave you the only thing she could, the gift of life."

"But… but why couldn't she just live? Why did she have to die? It's not fair! I didn't get to meet her and see what she looks like. I didn't get to know her. Carl got to, but I didn't get to. Carl told me that I look like her, but I'm never going to get to see her" Judy said, tears making a trail down her face.

"Yea, I know. I know honey" Rick said, kneeling down in front of her on the couch, "I know it's not fair, but I believe that Lori knows what's going on with you. I believe that she checks in on you and Carl from time to time, to make sure you're ok. She loved you so much, and I'm sure she knows that you're grateful for what she did for you, now that you're old enough to understand."

Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out a rectangle shaped paper. "Carl and I, we wanted to get you something special for your birthday. Something that we knew would mean a lot to you. That trip that we went on, I know I told you we went to find supplies, and we did. But we also went to get something that belonged to you."

Rick handed Judy the piece of paper which seemed to be slightly singed on the ends, as if it had been in a fire. She flipped it over to reveal a picture. She recognized her father in the picture. He looked very young, and his face was very smooth, smoother than Judy had ever seen him. Carl was in the picture too, it must've been his birthday, because they were sitting in front of a cake with candles. Carl was about the same age that Judy was now. And then, Judy eyed the beautiful woman who had her arm wrapped around Carl. She had long dark brown hair that flowed down her shoulders, and dark brown eyes. Judy recognized those eyes, it was the same that stared back at her whenever she looked in the mirror. Judy couldn't tear herself away from the woman's face. It was her, Lori. Her mother.

As Judy stared, Rick spoke. "Carl risked his life twice to save this picture for you. He wanted you to know what your mom looked like. It was his idea to go all the way back to Georgia to see if it was still in the prison where you were born. When we got there, almost everything was destroyed, or picked over by looters. I thought it was a lost cause, we were about to leave… but Carl, he looked under an overturned mattress, and he found this, again."

Judy finally tore her eyes away from the picture, and looked up at her father. Her eyes were wet and shiny from tears. "It was like a sign, Judy. It was like Lori had saved this picture from getting burned. Almost everything else in the cell had been on fire, but the picture barely got singed."

"She looks like me" Judy sniffed.

Rick smiled. "Yes… yes, you look like _her_. Now you don't have to wonder what she looked like. And she would be so proud of the girl that you've grown into."

Judy wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and launched herself into Rick's arms. Rick picked her up off the ground and held her, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Michonne looked over at them as tears streamed down her face. After a few moments, Rick slowly put Judy back down on the ground.

"Thanks daddy", she managed. Rick smiled. "This is just a preview of the presents that we got for you, but don't thank me for this one. It was all Carl's idea. Thank your brother when he gets here, and he should be here soon."

Judy nodded and picked the picture up off the couch. "Can I go show Joy and Mhare?" Judy asked. "Yea, sure, go ahead" Rick agreed, and Judy turned and scurried upstairs to show her siblings the picture of her mother.

Michonne was still wiping away tears as Rick collapsed on the couch next to her. "So that went better than I expected" he said with a sigh.

"See? And you barely needed my help" Michonne said, causing Rick to snicker. "I needed your support" he said, "you being there helped me think of what to say."

They sat on the couch in a comfortable silence for a few moments, when Rick said "Oh, that's not all we found. I got something for you."

Michonne angled her head towards Rick with a smile. "More toothpaste?" she asked hopefully.

"No, even better" Rick said as he leaped off the couch, and ran to the spare bedroom to retrieve his gift. He was back in a few minutes, hiding something behind his back. Michonne stared at him curiously.

"I found this, and it was just too damn beautiful for me to leave behind" he said, before pulling out her multicolored cat statue. Michonne's mouth dropped open and she jumped off the couch in surprise.

"No way!" she said loudly, as she stared at it. The cat looked like it had gone through so much. The tail end had been melted in the fire that consumed the prison, and it was missing one of its ears, but in certain areas the brightly colored paint was still visible, and with a little cleaning and possibly repainting, it could get somewhat close to its former glory.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it was still there" Michonne said, shaking her head. Rick handed the cat to Michonne who took it from him gently as if she were afraid it might break. "I didn't even know you noticed that I had it. Honestly, I thought Carl was the only one who knew I had it. I used to hide it under my bed."

"I know" Rick laughed, "you used to keep it a secret, but I watched you a lot. I knew you liked to look at it from time to time. I figured you had a fun side, even though you tried to act tough."

"Hey, I was… am… tough", Michonne smiled.

"I know, but I figured a woman who liked brightly colored cats had to be a sweetheart on the inside. And I was right. I found it right where you left it, under your bed."

Michonne smiled and hugged her husband. "Thank you, Rick". She then lowered her voice to a whisper, "You are _so_ gonna get laid tonight".

He moved forward and softly kissed her neck. "Why wait?" he asked, but his sentence was interrupted by a knock on the front door.

Michonne unwrapped Rick's arms from around her and looked out the window. A smile spread across her face as she yelled "Carl, Enid, and the kids are here!"


	2. Chapter 2

The entire community was expected to come out for Judy's birthday party. It was a big deal because she was the oldest of the children in the community. She had been the only baby who lived in the gates until Maggie had given birth to Hershel, and Michonne had had Joy a few months after that. She was also the daughter of a legend. People in all three communities admired Rick as a leader, and as an extension they admired his family as well. Carl had moved to Hilltop to somewhat remove himself from his father's shadow, and he made a name for himself in his own right, but the infamous Grimes family was known and respected throughout their network of communities, especially since the Grimes family led two out of the three towns in the coalition.

Rick, Michonne, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, and Enid, who was pregnant with she and Carl's second child, had spent much of the morning setting up the Grimes' home for guests while the children played games upstairs. After putting out chairs and tables on the lawn and in the backyard, Rick, Carl, and Glenn began barbequing the meat they'd saved for the big occasion. Carl had brought a lamb from the Hilltop, and the men went to work creating lamb burgers, and lamb chops to keep the many guests fed. As the guys grilled outside, Enid and Maggie were in the living room hanging a huge 'Happy Birthday' banner Carl and Rick found in a party store, as Michonne baked Judy's birthday cake in the kitchen.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps pounding down the stairs as Judy, Tommy, Joy, Hershel, Mhare, and Carla loudly made their presence known.

"Mommy, when are people coming over?" Judy asked as she burst into the kitchen with her posse of followers behind her, struggling to catch her breath from running down the steps.

"In an hour or so" Michonne said calmly, opening the oven and placing the cake batter inside to bake.

"Granny, is that Judy's cake?" Carla asked curiously, her large blue eyes widening to peer through the oven's window.

Michonne internally cringed at the word granny. She still couldn't believe that she was a grandmother, and that her grandchild and her youngest son were the same age. She looked down at Carla who was peering up at her through thick blond eyelashes. The little girl had the same blue eyes shared by Rick, Carl, and Joy, but she had light blond curly hair, lighter than either of her parents. She almost looked like Judy when she was younger. She had a round face and big almond shaped eyes that Michonne could have claimed came from her, if Michonne were actually the girl's biological grandmother.

"Yes sweetie, I'm baking Judy's cake. After it's baked and cooled you can help me decorate it if you want to."

"Yea!" Carla yelled, instantly excited.

"Can I help too?" Mhare asked, skidding into the kitchen proudly wearing his batman shirt and most likely the batman underwear and socks that Rick had given him the day before.

"Yea me too! Can I put the icing on?" Joy asked, overhearing the conversation.

"Yes, you all can help, but after the cake is baked. Until then you should all go outside. If you stomp around in here, the cake will drop."

"But we're bored" Judy complained. "It's no fun until everyone gets here"

"You have five playmates already. Why don't you play tag?" Maggie suggested as she walked into the kitchen with Enid.

"Okay. Let's play tag. Tommy is it!" Judy yelled, smacking the tall, quiet boy on the shoulder. He had grown quickly since he was adopted by Carl and Enid five years ago. When Carl had found him on a run, he was a starving, abused, five year old that was wearing tattered, blood stained clothes and a mask of Walker skin. He was practically a wild child, never learning how to read, or live inside a house. Tommy had run away from the people who raised him, the Walker People, and the group had attacked the Hilltop to get him back. Tommy had long sandy brown hair whose length rivaled Carl's, and he often wore it in a ponytail. He was very tall for his age, up to Carl's shoulder, and he hadn't even hit puberty yet. But the boy was long and lanky, quiet and polite, and very often seemed awkward in social situations. That being said, Tommy was a practical prodigy when it came to using weapons. He always hit his targets when throwing knives, or shooting bows, and Carl had even let him fire his gun a few times. They chalked his skill up to those years having to survive in the wild, and dealing with the pet walkers kept by the Walker people.

All the children turned and ran towards the front door as Tommy stood in the kitchen looking somewhat confused about what just happened. "I think she wants you to catch her" Michonne said with a wink, giving Tommy a clue. He nodded his head slightly and then took off after Judy and the rest of the children to the amusement of Michonne.

"He's still learning how to interact with people" Enid said apologetically, "being raised by an anti-social sociopath doesn't help with child development".

"I think he's fine" Michonne said, washing the bowl she used to mix the cake. "Everyone is a little awkward at that age. When I was ten I was obsessed with dinosaurs and spent my time drawing them fanatically in my room."

"When I was ten I was stealing my step-mom's makeup and doing up my face in the school bathroom. Daddy had to come up to the school three different times when the teacher snitched on me" Maggie offered.

"When I was ten… ok, this is a little embarrassing" Enid said, letting out a breath. "When I was ten, I was a Belieber."

"A what?" Michonne asked.

"I was a Belieber. You know, a Justin Bieber fan?"

Maggie released a breath so suddenly, spit flew everywhere. Her body shook in hysteria as she laughed. Michonne just shook her head in sympathy.

"Hey! He made good songs!" Enid replied defensively.

"Oh gosh, does Glenn know? I have to tell Glenn!" Maggie managed to say between her laughing fits.

"Glenn doesn't need to know!" Enid said, regretting that she mentioned it.

"Hey, its ok" Michonne said, patting Enid's back, "we've all made stupid decisions when we were young."

"But… I still listen to his cd's" Enid said quietly, digging herself further into a hole.

Maggie roared with laughter, barely able to breathe, and even Michonne couldn't help laughing at Enid's slightly hurt face.

"Well Carl listens to him too!" she blurted out. At this point Maggie was laughing so hard she was crying, and Michonne sat down so she wouldn't fall over.

Enid stared at the two women who were laughing hysterically, and after a few moments even she couldn't keep a straight face. She joined in on the laughter until her baby started kicking in the womb. "Hey, we are not alone" Enid said, holding her belly.

"Maybe the baby's a fan too" Maggie sputtered, and all three women laughed again.

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Rick, Glenn, and Carl were outside preparing the meat for their guests. It was a beautiful day out, and the perfect weather for a barbeque. The trio was working quietly yet efficiently, when Daryl strolled up carrying bottles of beer.

"Where did you get that?" Glenn asked excitedly.

"They're makin' beer in the Kingdom. Carol brought me back a few bottles. Guess I'm just a straight up guy that I came over here to share" Daryl said in greeting, holding up the beer to show the men.

"Thanks man, you just made this party 20 times cooler" Glenn said, grabbing a beer from Daryl.

Rick just nodded at Daryl and took another beer. When Carl reached out a hand to take a beer for himself, Daryl turned to Rick. "Hey, I know he's in charge of a whole town, but is this kid 21?" Daryl playfully asked Rick.

Carl smirked and snatched a beer from Daryl. "Actually, I'm 23" Carl bragged.

"Eh, grow some damn facial hair and then we can talk" Daryl mumbled, trying to hide his smile.

The men paused from their cooking to sip on their beers. "This stuff is actually good" Rick commented, "I think the Kingdom may have a winner on their hands."

Carl took a swig of beer and swallowed, trying to hide his dislike of the taste since Daryl had already made a crack at him.

"How'd the run go?" Daryl asked, "going all the way back to Georgia y'all had to have seen something interesting."

"Yea, we went all the way back to the prison, the place was burned to a crisp mostly, but we were able to salvage a few things. The Governor's vehicles, the tank, and the bodies are still there where we left 'em. It's like time just stopped there. It brought back a few memories, y'know?"

Daryl nodded and chewed on his lip, while Carl and Glenn looked down at their feet, lost in thought. Daryl broke the silence again. "Congrats on baby #2" Daryl offered.

"Thanks" Carl said, smiling.

"Are you guys going to find out the sex?" Glenn asked.

"Nah, Enid wanted it to be a surprise again. And without Dr. Carson to read the sonogram machine correctly, even if we looked it could be anyone's guess."

Their conversation was interrupted when Judy, Joy, Hershel, Mhare, and Carla burst from the house in a run. Rick was instantly on high alert, instinctively reaching for his gun as Carl grabbed his knife.

"Hey, hey! What's going on?" Rick yelled at the wild children.

"Grandpa! Tommy's gonna get us!" Carla yelled, scurrying behind Carl and gripping him around the waist. Mhare ran behind Rick, trying to hide behind his legs. Judy, Hershel, and Joy, knowing the difference between tag and hide-and-seek, quickly put a tree between themselves and Tommy, who burst out of the door a few seconds later.

"You can't get us!" Mhare yelled, sticking out his tongue, "daddy won't let you!"

"Are they supposed to hide? Or are they supposed to run?" Tommy asked Carl in confusion.

"They're supposed to run but… they're still learning" Carl said with a shrug.

"Maybe you should go after the ones that already know how to play" Glenn said, pointing to Judy, Joy and Hershel who were running in and out from behind the tree.

Tommy nodded and took off after the trio who scattered in three different directions shrieking.

"Run Hershey!" Glenn shouted at his son. The older children soon disappeared around the side of the house and it was quiet again.

"Daddy can we come out now?" Mhare asked Rick, peeking out from behind his leg. "Yep, Tommy is gone now" Rick said, picking the boy up with one arm.

"Did we win?" Carla asked.

"You sure did Junior, you didn't get caught, right?" Carl asked her, using the nickname that he loved to call her. She nodded. "Daddy, Granny said we have to go outside so the cake doesn't rock."

"I think you mean drop" Carl said, smoothing Carla's curly hair down.

There was a sudden chorus of screams from around the back of the house, and they knew Tommy had caught someone.

"So Glenn, you and Maggie thinking about having another one?" Rick asked as he took a swig of his beer.

Glenn's face immediately turned red. "Well, we weren't going to make it public yet but… we _are_ going to have another one. We just found out a little while ago."

The men all clapped Glenn on the back and congratulated him. "Damn man, is having babies all y'all ever do?" Daryl asked with a roll of his eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three hours later, Judy's party was in full swing. The adults were sitting and lounging inside the house or in the back yard as the children ran around outside. Carl, Glenn, and Rick took turns at the grill, keeping the food coming, as Michonne, Enid, and Maggie handled the refreshments. Once the birthday cake cooled, Michonne supervised as Mhare, Carla, and Joy sloppily plastered icing on it. The children were very proud of their work, but once Michonne sent them back out to play, she skillfully fixed the icing so that the cake was presentable.

Rick was outside flipping burgers, when Daniel and his son Darien showed up on the front lawn.

"Hey Rick" Daniel said, raising his hand in greeting. Rick's eyes narrowed.

Daniel swallowed nervously. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Yea, I need to talk to you" Rick said, closing the grill.

"Um, ok" Daniel said, letting go of his son's hand. "Darien, go find Judy and tell her happy birthday."

The boy nodded nervously, sensing the tension between Rick and his father, and slowly walked into the house.

"You have some nerve showing up here after what your son said to my daughter" Rick started.

"I… I heard about that. Look Rick, I don't know why Darien said that, and I brought him here to apologize and tell Judy happy birthday…"

"He said it because he heard _you_ say it" Rick snapped. Daniel swallowed again.

"Look, I didn't know my son was listening to me, I was just talking to one of the newer people and they asked about the Grimes family, and I was just telling them what I knew…"

"You don't know shit!" Rick said loudly, pressing his finger into Daniel's chest. Carl quickly came out the front door, hearing his father's raised voice. "You don't know shit about my family. You don't know shit about my daughter. I don't know who you heard those lies coming from, but keep my family out of your mouth. And if your son teases my daughter ever again, I'm coming for you."

Daniel's eyes were wide in surprise, but once he heard the threat in Rick's voice his eyes narrowed. "Oh, will your wife kill my son too? That's what your daughter said."

Carl stepped down the steps and stood behind his father, letting him know that he had his back.

"My daughter knows better than to threaten things she doesn't mean. But your son was calling her 'mom killer', so she was justified."

Carl, who had no idea what was going on, exploded with "he called her what?!"

"Well _you_ just threatened me" Daniel said angrily.

"That wasn't a threat" Rick said dangerously.

Michonne stepped out of the front door, and seeing who was outside she immediately knew what was going on. She also moved to stand next to Rick. Daniel placed his arms protectively across his body, seeing he was outnumbered and unwelcome.

"Fine, I'll just get my son and we'll leave since we obviously aren't welcome here."

"Your son is a child. _He_ can stay, as long as _Judy_ is okay with him being here. _You_ need to leave" Rick said.

"Well is Judy okay with him being here?" Daniel asked. Just then, Judy and a group of her friends from school, Darien included, came running around the corner, throwing and dodging water balloons.

"Judy!" Michonne called. Judy, reluctant to leave the fun, jogged over to her mother. "Yea?" she asked. "Are you okay with Darien being here?" Michonne whispered. Judy looked confused at first and then her face changed. "Oh. Yea. It's okay. He apologized" Judy said nonchalantly. "Can I go play now?"

Michonne nodded, and Judy ran off to join the water balloon fight.

"You can get him in two hours" Rick said to Daniel dismissively, making it clear that the conversation was over.

Daniel spun on his heel in a huff, and walked down the block, headed back to his home.

"What did he say about Judy?" Carl asked.

"Just gossip. His son overheard him saying that Lori died because of Judy. His son teased her about it" Rick said.

"Who? _That_ punk?" Carl asked, pointing his finger at Darien. Rick put his hand on Carl's chest. "It's over Carl. We spoke to Judy about it, and we told her what really happened with Lori and she understands it's not her fault." Carl nodded his head reluctantly.

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Michonne and Rick decided that they wanted to create some sort of tradition to commemorate their children's 10th birthday, sort of like a coming of age ceremony. In the past world, children had sweet sixteen parties, quincineras, and bar and bat mitzvahs to celebrate them becoming an adult. The parties were usually when the children hit their teenage years. But in the world that they lived in, you had to be able to care for yourself at a younger age. Walkers, and even people, didn't care how old you were, and they'd kill you just the same.

The Grimes had taken that sentiment very seriously, and Michonne had suggested that the children of Alexandria learn self-defense as part of their school curriculum. Twice a week they learned basics such as pressure points, how to make someone let go of them if they were being held, and how to block punches. Carl loved the idea, and brought it to the Hilltop's curriculum as well. The Kingdom had already been teaching their children archery, so they were on board as well, and self-defense became something that the children of all three towns learned.

Rick and Michonne had also been teaching Judy and Joy how to take down Walkers using dummies and trees for practice. Although the girls had never come face-to-face with real Walkers because the patrols that went out regularly did a good job at making sure there were no Walkers on the road, Carl, Rick, and Michonne regularly told them stories of the rotted corpses that wandered around outside of the walls. Because the girls were small, Michonne had trained them that when approaching a Walker, the trick was to kick the Walkers knees to make it fall, and then stab it in the head once it was on the ground. They had fun practicing on Rick and Glenn, who staggered around moaning and reaching for the girls as they skillfully avoided them, kicked them in the knees, and pretended to stab them. Even Mhare tried to get in on the fun, playfully tackling Rick and pretending to stab him in the head, but there comes a point where one has to put the skills they've been practicing into action, and the time had come for Judy.

For Judy's coming of age ceremony, Rick, Michonne, Carl, Glenn and Maggie were taking Judy, Hershel, and Tommy to the quarry that Rick had found years ago, to go Walker hunting. They knew that Walkers occasionally fell down the quarry, and the patrol team had left twelve down there after Rick explained what he needed them for.

Judy was nervous but excited about her ceremony. She had practiced killing Walkers many times before, but having a real corpse in front of you, that was actually trying to eat you, was another story. She was standing in her new bedroom in front of the mirror, admiring her birthday gifts. Her parents and older brother had coordinated their gifts. Michonne had gotten her a survival knife, with a silver handle and decorative red swirls on it. Rick had gotten her a leather belt with a sheath for the knife. The belt was adult sized so he had to make some adjustments, but it now fit her perfectly. Besides finding the picture of her mom, Carl had gifted her with cut-off leather gloves that were very similar to Michonne's. Judy had screamed in excitement when she saw the three gifts, and she wore the knife, belt, and gloves for the remainder of her birthday party, until Rick insisted she take it off and go to bed. If Rick hadn't made her take it off, she probably would've slept with her knife.

 _Now I look like a real grown up_ she thought, as she checked herself out from another angle. She was studying herself so intensely that she didn't hear Carl walking towards her bedroom.

"Whatcha doin'" Carl asked, causing Judy to jump and spin around.

"Carl!" Judy said in a mix of surprise and annoyance at being startled.

"What? I was coming to see how you liked your new room" He said with a smirk, glancing around at Michonne's old room which was now full of Judy's belongings.

"It's great!" Judy said enthusiastically. "I have all this space, and all of my stuff can fit in here, and the bed is really comfortable."

Carl nodded and sat on the bed. It _was_ really comfortable.

"Are you ready to go out there today and kill a real Walker?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as he studied his sister.

Judy swallowed, and her eyes flicked to Carl's in the mirror. "Yea... yes... I am. Mommy and daddy said I'm ready, and I've been practicing, I can do it."

Carl nodded again. "Yea, I think you are ready. You're really strong Judy, and brave. I just can't believe you're ten already. And you have your own knife. It looks cool by the way."

Judy beamed and turned around to face Carl. "Thanks. And thanks for the gloves. And the picture of Lori. Especially the picture of Lori" Judy said, her voice getting softer. "I always wanted to know what she looked like."

"It's the least I could do. Dad and I thought it would be really special if you could see her. And Judy, about what that boy said..."

"I know. I know it wasn't true. I know Lori didn't die because of me. But... but if she wasn't pregnant with me she would still be alive, and that makes me sad. I'm not even mad at Darien anymore, I'm just sad Lori isn't here."

"Come here" Carl said, gesturing to the bed, and Judy slowly sat down next to him, moving her knife belt so she could sit comfortably.

"Lori died when I was about your age, and before she died I was really mean to her."

Judy's eyes widened in surprise. "Why?" She asked.

"She and dad weren't getting along, they weren't talking and he was just ignoring her. She was trying to protect me a lot and treat me like a kid, but I didn't want to be a kid anymore. I had seen so many things, and had to do so many things, that I really wasn't a kid. So I got angry at her. I was annoyed by her, so I treated her really badly."

"What did she do?" Judy asked

Carl took a breath and tried to stop the tears that were suddenly welling up in his eye. "She just loved me" Carl responded. "I treated her like crap, I yelled at her and ignored her, and she just loved me anyway. And on the day she died, right before Maggie cut into her she told me to take care of dad, take care of you, and she said to always do what's right. She said if it feels wrong, don't do it. Don't let the world spoil me. And after all the mean things I said and did to her, you know what her last words to me were?"

Judy was enraptured in the story Carl was telling. "No. What?"

"She said I was good, and I was the best thing she'd ever done, and that she loved me." Carl ran his hand across his face, wiping away a tear. The last time Judy had seen Carl cry was when Michonne had to have her C-section. Judy patted Carl's hand to soothe him.

"We're lucky" Carl said softly. "We're lucky Michonne is our mom now. Lori would be happy she's here for us. Especially here for you."

Judy gave Carl a hug, and he wrapped his strong arms around her. "Yea, I'm glad Michonne is my mom" Judy said.

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After breakfast, Rick, Michonne, Carl, Maggie, and Glenn took Judy, Hershel, Tommy, and Joy out to go Walker hunting. They were originally going to leave Joy behind, but once Joy heard that Hershel was going, she wouldn't take no for an answer. "It won't hurt for her to learn how to kill a Walker early" Michonne told Rick, and he caved in. Enid stayed home to watch Mhare and Carla.

The group took a short trip in the van to the road that led down to the large quarry Rick had found years ago. They hopped out and made their way through the woods, taking the ten minute walk to the quarry. As they were walking, Tommy suddenly froze and pointed at the ground. "Look. Tracks."

Carl came up next to him and bent down next to the scuffs in the ground. "Yea, good eyes Tommy. Definitely tracks. Can anyone figure out what kind?". Judy, Joy, and Hershel came over to take a look as well. The children stared at the impressions on the ground, bending down to get a closer look. With much begging on Sherry's part, Daryl had come to the school as a guest speaker once, and had done an assembly on how to read tracks. The toes or shoes always point in the direction the tracks are going. The deepness of the tracks tell you how heavy the person was, or the condition of the soil when the track was made. The shape of the tracks tell you what made it.

"It's a rabbit. Look how long the tracks are" Joy said.

"But look, it has two toes. See? Rabbits have paws" Hershel volunteered.

"It's too big to be a rabbit" Tommy agreed.

"It's a deer!" Judy said, "look. See the four hoofs? There's even some poop over there". The children nodded in agreement.

"Good job" Glenn said, "I see you guys were listening to Daryl during that assembly."

Judy beamed brightly, and Michonne proudly patted her on the back. "Let's go get some walkers" she said.

They followed an overgrown path to the quarry, Michonne using her katana to cut down branches that had grown over the path. When they finally reached the drop off that bordered the edge of the quarry, they signaled for the kids to keep back. Rick, Maggie, Michonne, and Glenn peered over the edge to observe the walkers below. The quarry was cleared of walkers on a weekly rotation, as it sometimes trapped the occasional Walker down there. Alexandria's defense team had built corral gates at the bottom of the quarry that kept Walkers that fell in from wandering back out until they could be killed.

"There's twelve down there. Perfect number for each of the kids to get a few tries" Rick said.

"Ok, we neuter them right by the gates, and bring them out one at a time" Glenn agreed.

"How 'bout Carl controls the fence, Rick and Glenn holds the Walker while Michonne neuters 'em, and I stay back with the kids until you're ready" Maggie suggested. Everyone agreed with that plan, especially Glenn who didn't want a newly pregnant Maggie anywhere near Walkers.

The group headed down the quarry's steep ramp, while Maggie stayed with the kids, explaining to them what the adults were doing.

Carl positioned himself behind the corral gate while Rick and Glenn stood in front of it holding ropes. Michonne was a foot or two away so she had space to swing her katana.

"Ready?" Carl asked everyone. They all nodded. Carl slowly opened the gate a few inches, and Walkers' hands began clawing their way through the space. Carl allowed the gate to open a little wider, and one Walker squeezed its head through the gap, snapping its rotten gums at Rick and Glenn. Carl trapped the Walker's head in the gates.

"This is perfect" Michonne yelled, "keep it there". Michonne approached the Walker, and using every ounce of skill she possessed, she severed the Walkers jaws without penetrating its brain.

"Ok, let it out" Michonne ordered Carl, and he quickly opened the gate just enough for the Walker to slide its eviscerated body through, and then slammed it closed again. The jawless Walker tumbled to the ground, and Rick and Glenn took the opportunity to wrap a rope around its neck. They then stood on its arms to keep it still. Michonne hacked off both of its arms and then Glenn pulled the Walker to its feet by the neck.

"Alright, we've got one!" Rick called to Maggie. "Who's up first, the birthday girl?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxx

Judy heard her father speaking from down the canyon, but she couldn't comprehend his words for a moment, she was too mesmerized by the sight of a real, moving Walker ahead of her. The stories did nothing to prepare her for the sight. It looked like a person, it wore clothes like a person, but it wasn't. She was shocked when Michonne cut its jaw and arms off and it didn't even flinch. Her dad and Uncle Glenn yanked it by its neck and it wasn't even bothered.

 _It's a monster. It's a monster and it wants to eat you._

The blood drained from Judy's face. "Judy?" Maggie called. "Judy!" She tried again. Judy couldn't take her eyes off the monster being led towards her. Glenn, seeing Judy freeze in fear, held the Walker where it was and didn't bring it any closer.

"Judy look at me" Maggie said, bending in front of her. "It's dead, and we made it so it can't hurt you. I know it looks scary, and big, but it cannot do anything to you. All of us are right here to make sure that it doesn't. You believe me?". Judy took a breath.

 _It can't hurt me. It can't hurt me._

She pushed down her feelings of panic and managed to give Maggie one nod.

"Now take out your knife" Maggie coached. Judy slowly unsheathed her knife from its scabbard. "Hold it tight" Maggie said, and Judy gripped it tightly.

"C'mon Judy!" Carl called from the gate, "you can do this!".

Judy slowly approached the Walker that was being held by Glenn. Rick moved beside Judy and crouched down so that he was closer to her level.

"You know what to do sweetheart" he encouraged, "kick the knees, knock it down, stab the head."

Judy focused in on the struggling Walker on the rope, its dead eyes staring at her, unblinking. It would occasionally make a motion to move towards her, but when the rope pulled it back it would stop and stay still for a while, just staring.

 _I can do this. It's just like when I practice with daddy._

Judy inched closer to the rotten Walker, taking in its stench of decaying flesh.

 _Kick the knees_

She got as close as she dared and she kicked the Walker's knee, but she was used to pulling her kicks when she was practicing with her father, so the Walker stumbled a little but stayed upright.

"Just a little harder Judy, make sure you knock him over" Michonne yelled.

Judy tried again, this time kicking with all her strength. She kicked so hard her foot went through the Walker's leg, breaking it. The Walker toppled towards her and Judy screamed and leaped out of the way, freaked out by how close it got.

"No. I don't want to do this, no!" Judy screamed.

"Okay, okay, come here" Rick said, pulling her to him and holding on to her to calm her. "You don't have to. It's okay."

Joy and Hershel looked on with wide eyes as the Walker moaned and struggled on the ground, but Tommy took a step forward. "Look Judy, it's on the ground already. You knocked it down, now you just stab the head. See, its already down" Tommy said, pointing at the Walker.

"It's creepy…"

"You can do this. You've been practicing, I saw you. You're tougher than this thing. C'mon!" Tommy urged.

"I can do this" Judy said out loud. She detached herself from Rick's arms and walked up to the Walker that Glenn was still holding on to. Judy's eyes furrowed in concentration as she raised her knife and drove it downward into the Walker's head. It's head made a sickening pop as Judy's knife punctured the skull, and it immediately went limp.

"Yea!" Carl yelled, and Michonne, Glenn and Maggie hooted in excitement. Joy and Hershel clapped, but Rick just looked on in adoration, a smile spreading slowly across his face.

"High five!" Tommy yelled, holding up his hand, and Judy slapped it with a look of relief.

"How do you feel?" Rick asked, "are you okay?"

"Yea. I'm okay. It wasn't that hard. Just kinda gross. I… I want to do it again. Can I do another one?" Judy asked. Glenn turned to look at Rick, and Rick glanced at Michonne.

"Of course you can" Michonne consented, turning back towards the gate so she could neuter another Walker. The four adults repeated the process, this time with a female walker who's hair was torn out of her head in clumps. Her dress was covered with bugs, mud, and possibly body fluids, and she smelled rancid. The second time, Judy didn't hesitate to kick her knees, causing the Walker to fall over sideways. It growled viciously before Judy plunged her knife into its temple, ending its snarling.

"How do you get rid of their smell?" Judy asked, crunching up her nose and examining her brand new knife that now reeked of rotten Walker blood.

"I like to shake it, it flicks the blood off" Michonne suggested.

"Try wiping the blood on the Walker" Glenn added.

"Or carryin' a handkerchief around works too" Maggie threw in.

"I think I'm done for right now" Judy said, "I need to take a break"

"Ok, Tommy you up for a few tries?" Glenn asked.

"Yea, I'm ready" he said confidently. When Michonne moved forward to prepare to neuter the Walker, Tommy said "you don't have to do that. I can handle it."

Michonne looked at Carl for confirmation and he nodded. "Tommy can handle it" Carl said assuredly. Maggie moved Judy, Joy and Hershel further back from the gate, and everyone else took a step back as Carl released another Walker from the gate. This one lunged towards Tommy, reaching its arms towards the boy's face. Tommy ducked and skirted the Walker, moving behind it. He then simply pushed it over from behind, and drove his knife into its brain.

"That was fast!" Carl called, "you did great!"

"Wooowwww" Joy exhaled appreciatively.

"Tommy do that again!" Hershel demanded eagerly, clapping his hands.

A second Walker was released, and Tommy quickly took that one down too. Judy was as supportive as Tommy was for her, clapping and cheering him on. He took down two more Walkers until it was Hershel and Joy's turn. For the younger kids, Michonne neutered the Walkers, and then Glenn and Rick held the Walkers still on the ground, so that they wouldn't struggle. Hershel was first, but his first knife strike missed the Walker's head and hit the ground.

"Its okay Hershey, you have to open your eyes so you can see what you're doing" Glenn heartened. Hershel got the skull the second time, and Glenn picked him up and swung him around while everyone clapped.

Joy was next, and she tied her curly hair up in a ponytail in preparation for her big kill. After neutering the next Walker, Michonne came over to talk Joy through it while Rick and Glenn held it down.

"You've seen everyone else do this, you know what to do honey. One hit, straight through." Michonne said.

Joy rolled her shoulders and inched her arm closer to the Walker's face as it growled and stared at her through dead eyes.

"Yea Joy, get that thing!" Judy called. Joy brought her knife up and plunged it through the top of the Walker's head. Its skull was soft and the brains seeped out of the hole that she'd just made.

"Ugh, ewww!" Joy gagged, spitting on to the ground. "I'm not scared of them, they just stink! I'm not killing anymore."

Judy and Tommy took turns practicing on the remaining seven Walkers. Judy improved with each one, getting to the point where she consistently knocked the Walkers down and was able to drive he knife through their cranium. For the last Walker of the day, Michonne had removed the arms, but on Judy's request she had left the mouth. Judy wanted more of a challenge. The adults all surrounded her with baited breath and weapons ready as Judy squared off with the Walker. The Walker ambled towards her, but was yanked back by the rope that Rick was now holding around it's neck. The Walker snapped its teeth at Judy while she looked for a safe opening to kick the Walker. She spun around behind it and kicked the back of its kneecap, causing it to fall forward on it's face, but before she could stab it in the head, it flipped over face-up, snapping at her. Even without arms, it was moving enough to be a difficult target. Judy hovered her hand above its head a little too long, and the Walker lunged upwards, almost biting her finger.

Michonne let out a gasp of horror, and Rick pulled on the rope, yanking the Walkers' head downwards again.

"I'm okay!" Judy yelled, "I've got this!". Judy moved to a position where the Walker's mouth couldn't reach her, and slammed her knife into its skull, ending the struggle.

"Whew" Maggie exhaled, placing a hand on her chest.

Rick wiped sweat off his brow. "This was 100 times worse than teaching you how to drive" Rick said to Carl.

"We are done for the day" Michonne announced, "congratulations birthday girl. And all of you did great with those Walkers."

The group picked up their rope, and Carl checked to make sure the corral gate was locked up, and then they all headed back up the quarry ramp towards the car. Joy and Hershel were ahead of everyone, talking loudly about their first Walker kills.

"Mine stunk worse than yours. It was so bad mommy's knife still stinks like Walker brains" Joy was saying to Hershel, when a Walker stepped out in front of them on the path. Joy and Hershel screamed and instantly turned to run back towards the group. Two more Walkers were right behind the first one. Michonne's katana was out within seconds, and Maggie, Glenn and Rick were already pointing their guns, when the lead Walker fell to its knees and raised its hands in the air.

"Please! Do not shoot me!" the Walker called, and everyone's mouths dropped open.

"I am looking for Carl. Are you Carl of the Hilltop?" the Walker called to Rick. Rick was too stunned to answer.

Carl stepped forward cautiously, his gun pointed at the Walker's head. "Yes"

"Queen Lydia has sent me"


	3. Chapter 3

"Queen Lydia has sent me."

Carl studied the person who he quickly realized was female, and wasn't a real Walker at all, she was one of the Walker People. Her face was covered with a Walker skin mask that was various colors, as if a patchwork of Walkers were used to create it. She was covered in Walker blood, and dirt, and her clothing was a patchwork of rags. Although she was a person in a Walker suit, the two Walkers behind her were very real. Carl could hear them growling and snapping at the group of people ahead of them, while ignoring the woman directly in front of them. The Walker "pets" were standing one behind the other, the one in the back's hands tied to the shoulders of the Walker in front as if they were playing a children's game. The front Walker's hands were tied together so that it couldn't grab anything, and various bags and pouches were attached to its tied arms. Both Walkers were carrying heavy bookbags on their backs like pack horses. The woman's traveling supplies had to be inside. Tommy stared at the woman suspiciously, and the other children shrank back behind the adults.

"Queen?" Maggie asked.

"Lydia?" Carl gasped in surprise.

"We need the help of you and your people. We are under attack. She said to find you. She said that you'd come" the woman said, slowly rising from the ground, her hands still in the air.

"Yes but… who is attacking you?" Carl questioned, his mind racing.

"Another group. They have attacked us many times. Stolen our supplies, our Walking Ones, and our people. We need help to defeat them. She said Carl of the Hilltop would help. She said that he is family."

Carl's heart swelled at Lydia's words. "Yes, yes I'm family. And I owe her…"

" _We_ owe her" Michonne cut in.

"We'll help you. How did you find me _here_ , in Alexandria?" Carl asked.

"I have already been to the Hilltop, they told me this is where I'd find you. Please, may I have water? I have run for days without stopping, dragging my packers behind me" the woman said, motioning to the Walkers. Glenn took out a canteen of water and offered it to the woman who quickly gulped it down, drinking through the mouth hole in her mask, and finishing it. She closed her eyes as she drank as if she were savoring every mouthful. When she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and offered the canteen back to Glenn, who held up his arms.

"It's okay, you can keep it. Believe me, we have plenty more where that came from."

The woman nodded, and clipped the canteen on to the lead Walker while she spoke. "Thank you. It is urgent that we get back. Time is of the essence."

"Back where?" Carl asked.

"To Ouija, our home"

"Ouija?" Carl, Michonne, Rick, Glenn, and Maggie all said at once.

"You've got to be kidding me" Maggie mumbled.

"We can't go back with you right now" Carl said, "we have to get the children back to town, we need to talk to the other people in town and let them know what's going on, and _you_ need to give us more information."

"Please" the woman begged, "we must go back to Ouija now. Many of our people are missing, mostly children. If we wait, we may not find them alive."

"I understand you want us to help, and we will" Rick said, stepping forward, "but we won't jump into danger without findin' out what we're gettin' into. You can come back with us to Alexandria, you can explain what's going on, and then we'll go back with you to… Ouija… in the mornin'."

The woman reluctantly nodded, seeing Rick's resolute look.

"Let's go back to the van" Rick ordered.

"Uh… what about the Walkers?" Glenn asked, "they are _not_ stinking up the van."

Everyone glanced at the woman's 'packers'. She sighed and turned to her two 'pets'. "You have completed your task. Thank you, brothers. Travel well" she said softly, before stabbing both Walkers in the head. Everyone looked on, stunned, as she used a knife to cut the bags and supplies off the Walkers and put them on her own back. She then turned to Carl. "I am ready."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night, Rick and Michonne's family, and Carl and Enid's family all sat down to eat dinner as they discussed the events of the day.

"What did you and Enid and Carla and Maggie do today?" Michonne asked Mhare.

"We played catch, and then we played hide and seek, then we took a nap, and then we drew a picture" Mhare said happily.

"Oh, and we had a race and I beat Mhare!" Carla added.

"Wow, that's my girl" Carl encouraged, giving Carla a high five.

"Hey you're _my_ brother!" Mhare accused, causing Carl to laugh. "Sorry buddy, you'll win next time."

"How was it seeing your first Walker up close?" Enid asked Judy.

"I killed five of them, and Tommy killed five. And even Joy and Hershel killed two! And they were gross and stinky and they looked like monsters, _but_ I did it!" Judy said enthusiastically.

"Wow, congratulations! I'm so proud of all of you" Enid said, "I wish I was there."

"And then we ran into that weird Walker lady, and she walked around with Walkers and she talked to them and stuff. I thought she was a real Walker" Joy added, flipping her hair.

"Walker lady?" Enid asked, turning to Carl.

"One of the Walker People, she found us. She said Lydia asked us to come help her. There's something going on in her town, people are disappearing. _Children_ are disappearing" Carl explained.

"Lydia? It's been so long. I mean, yea, if its Lydia we should help her, but how do we know this isn't some kind of trap? How do we know this girl isn't some Alpha supporter, and what she's saying is true? I don't think you should just run off with her with no actual proof from Lydia."

"What you're sayin' is totally valid Enid" Rick said, "and there really is no proof that Lydia sent her, except for her word. We owe it to Lydia to at least try. We'll bring some members of the defense team just in case it's some kind of trap, but I don't sense it is."

"We'll be careful, you know that" Michonne said to Enid, "I owe Lydia my life, and I'll help her however I can, just like I owe you."

"You don't owe me. I didn't do anything you wouldn't've done for me" Enid said, her cheeks turning a shade of pink.

"Don't be bashful, you're a Rockstar, everyone knows it" Carl said while reaching under the table to grab Enid's hand.

"Will you watch the kids for us while we're away? I'm not sure how long this will take. The Walker Woman said it will probably take two days to get there by horse. I know you and Carl were planning to get back to Hilltop on Tuesday. Every time their only doctor leaves town I know there's a bit of a panic. If you want, you can leave the kids with Maggie, or you can take them back to Hilltop with you until we come back."

"No problem" Enid said, and then she turned to the kids. "You guys wanna stay with Maggie? or come back to the Hilltop with me?"

"Hilltop!" Joy, Judy, and Mhare said simultaneously. "Well then, it's settled" Enid said, shrugging her shoulders, "it might be a little crowded in our trailer, but we'll make it work."

"Ok guys, if you're going with Enid to Hilltop, remember you're on your best behavior, and you do everything Enid asks you to do. Judy, when Enid is at work you're in charge. Take care of your brother and sister" Rick commanded.

"I _know_ daddy" Judy said with a huff.

"And Mhare, remember, when it's time for bedtime you go right to bed. No water, no bathroom breaks, no fooling around" Michonne reminded.

"But mommy, what if I _really_ have to go pee?" Mhare asked with a pout. "Go before you get into bed, Peanut. Enid is not going to fall for it." Mhare puffed out his lip slightly, but nodded in agreement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

The Walker woman, whose name was Sytira, had explained that Lydia now commanded a small tribe of 60 people. They had been very prosperous in the five years that Lydia had been in charge, creating semi-permanent shelters, growing crops, and breeding livestock, all with the help of their huge herd of Walkers. In the past week, people and Walkers started disappearing. Most of the missing people were children, as it was the responsibility of the children to tend to the Walker herds that were corralled away from the rest of the community. She explained that six people were missing, in 3 different attacks. After the third attack, Lydia realized that they were dealing with a larger problem than she could handle, and she sent the woman named Sytira to find Carl, her only other ally.

Five years ago, Lydia saved Carl from the former leader of the Walker People, Alpha. She also helped to save Michonne and Mhare's life, assisting Enid with Michonne's C-section, and risking her life to get medical supplies from the overrun infirmary. After all that, she challenged the next leader of the Walker People, Epsilon, to a fight to the death and won, sparing Epsilon's life, but taking over control of the tribe, and preventing them from attacking the Hilltop again. Rick had told Lydia that if she'd ever needed anything to come back and find them, and he meant it. His whole family owed her, and he was going to pay back the favor.

The next morning, Rick, Michonne, Carl, Glenn, and a few members of Alexandria's defense team headed out with Sytira, to their oddly named town of Ouija. Rick and Carl had used up a lot of Alexandria's gasoline on their long run to Atlanta, so they took some of the town's horses instead of cars. They sent messengers to both Hilltop, and the Kingdom, informing the other towns of what was going on, and asking them to send reinforcements to Ouija when they were able to gather them. Carl was unsure if the Kingdom would send reinforcements, seeing as though they had no business with Lydia, but he knew that the Hilltop would at least.

"It was a two day run from Ouija to the Hilltop, two more days of running to get to your village. The situation in my home may be worse now. There may be more attacks. On horse, it should take two days to get back there" Sytira explained, while they galloped down the road.

"What exactly does Lydia need from us?" Michonne yelled loudly, so she could be heard over the gallop of the horse's hooves.

"I do not know all of what the Queen desires. She asked me to bring you, and I've done as I've been bid. Queen Lydia can tell you more when we arrive."

"The place where you said Ouija is, is far out of the borders that we patrol. Are there many Walkers on the road around there?" Rick asked.

A smile peaked through the mouth holes in Sytira's skin mask, and she shook her head. "No, there aren't many wild Walking Ones, we gather all that we see, and the ones we gather help us to live."

"What do you mean they help you to live?" Glenn asked.

"You will see" Sytira promised.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After galloping the whole day, and stopping only to feed, water, and rest the horses, the group stopped for the night at a dilapidated home. After clearing the house, they put their horses into the attached garage to keep them safe during the night, and the group settled down in the living room. Glenn and another member of the defense team took first watch, as everyone else tried to catch a few hours of sleep. Sytira, who was sleeping upright in one of the house's moldy armchairs had removed her mask for the first time, and Rick was shocked to see she was young, in her mid-twenties, with smooth brown skin, light hazel eyes, and bushy hair that was in a short afro. She wore wooden earrings in her ears that were hand carved into a hoop shape. She was quite beautiful once the Walker skin was taken away, and Rick wondered why these people continued to wear Walker masks when they could obviously handle themselves around Walkers without them. He didn't want to be intrusive and ask Sytira, but he would ask Lydia when they got to Ouija.

Rick and Michonne curled up on the floor in one corner of the living room, Rick laying with his back to the wall as the big spoon, and Michonne as the little spoon, curled up next to him.

"So, what do you think about this?" Michonne asked Rick, keeping her voice low so that only he could hear.

"Well, if someone is attacking _them_ , they could soon be attacking us. We need to find out what this is, and who these people are. And if Lydia is reaching out now, maybe we can bring Ouija into the coalition. It couldn't hurt to have another town to trade with."

Michonne was quiet for a few moments as she thought. "They're targeting children and Walkers. That's weird. What do you think they want?"

"No idea. But… I'll do what I can to help Lydia."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Late into the next afternoon, they came across a large flowing river with a stony bottom.

"This is the perimeter of our territory, we are now in Ouija" Sytira announced. They navigated the horses through the deep river, which came up to the horses' chests, and up the steep banks to the other side.

As they continued to run, Sytira gave them a tour of the area. "These are the clearings that surround Ouija, it allows us to see people coming towards us. We have already been spotted by the archers."

Sytira stopped her horse, held up her hands over her head, and clasped them together, nodding at everyone else to do the same. Everyone copied her. After a few seconds, a bright flash caused by the sun reflecting off an object in the distance temporarily blinded the group, and then she put her hands back down.

"Now, we won't get shot" she explained with a shrug, and she took off again through the fields. Michonne gave Rick a sideways glance of disbelief, and Carl turned to glance at his parents as well before galloping off after Sytira.

After a few more minutes of galloping, Sytira took them to a clearing that was surrounded by trees and foliage. "This is where some of our smaller herds of Walking Ones are kept. This is where one of the attacks took place. Two children were tending the herd when they disappeared, along with 7 Walking Ones."

"Can we stop and examine the area?" Rick asked.

Sytira nodded and everyone dismounted from their horses, pulling their weapons immediately.

"Make a perimeter" Carl ordered, "surround the area, we don't know if these people are watching us."

Everyone spread out, as Rick put his police skills to the test, Michonne right behind him. He scoured the ground for prints of any kind, horse, shoe, or vehicle.

"Has anyone been here since the attack?" Rick asked.

"Yes. We came here to look for the children. The prints over there are from my people" Sytira said, pointing to footprints that went around and through the crime scene.

Rick walked over to a gate which was housing around 20 Walkers. "Any idea why they took some Walkers and not others?" Michonne asked.

"We care for our Walking Ones here. Many of them are our own family members and friends. When someone dies, they serve the community after death as a Walking One. It is a gift to the living. We keep track of all of our Walking Ones, some even choose to call them by name, or name the ones that we find. The Walking Ones that were taken were all fairly new. They were not badly damaged like the older ones."

"Hey Rick! Look at this!" Glenn called from a few feet away. Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Sytira all gathered around where Glenn was pointing. A canister lay on the ground, half buried under a bush. Rick carefully pulled it out and examined it, noticing that it was an aerosol spray that looked like the tear gas containers that the police department used to disperse crowds. The container was light, whatever was in it no longer was there. Rick carefully put his nose to the container and sniffed what was inside. His face dropped when he recognized the smell.

He turned to Sytira and said "I think those kidnapped children are still alive. They put chloroform in this container. They knocked them out."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was hot, grueling, exhausting work, but he had been chosen to do this. He had been handpicked to follow the savage woman, and find out where she was going. He wished he could drive, or at least take a bicycle, but she was running, dragging those monsters behind her, and so he had to walk too to keep up with her.

They figured the savages were trying to warn someone, or to get help because of the kidnappings. Their group hadn't come into contact with others in a long time, too long. Not until the savages moved into a clearing a few miles away. They decided it was best to not make their presence known, let them settle in for a while. They wanted to learn more about them. Let them multiply a little, before harvesting from them. The way they used the dead was amazing, and they learned a lot from observing them. But it was time now, time to use them for some real research that mattered.

He followed the savage woman for two days, until she reached a town. This one with high walls.

 _I knew it. If I bring back information on this town I'll be promoted!_ He thought. He hid in the forest and climbed a tree to get a better look at this town surrounded by wooden walls. They had lookouts on the gates, and were armed with primitive spears and bows. A few had guns, but it wasn't more than they could handle. He watched as the savage woman spoke to the people on the walls. She was looking for something, someone.

To his surprise, she didn't stay at the first town. She headed off in another direction, still running. He sprinted to catch up with her, to keep track of her. He followed her for two more days. At this point, he wasn't sure where he was. His commander had taught him the ancient art of star navigation. Now that there were no lights at night, your best bet was to follow the brightly lit stars. He figured he could find his way back home if he lost track of the savage, if he really had to. On the fourth day, he watched from afar as she stumbled upon five adults and four children near a quarry. The children ran from her at first, but the adults weren't afraid, they stopped to speak to her. He was too far away to hear their conversation, but the adults didn't seem threatened by her. She slaughtered the dead that had kept her company for four days, and they all climbed into a van and drove off.

He tried to track the van, praying that wherever they were going was a straight shot down the road. He walked for hours, beginning to lose hope, when he saw another town, this time with large steel walls. He hid himself on the roof of a nearby building and studied this new town. It was about the same size as the first, and they also had sentries on guard towers. He used his binoculars to zoom in past the tall gates, and his heart soared with pleasure. He could see children. Many, many children going into and out of a large church in the center of town.

 _Jackpot!_ He thought, thinking of all the praise he'd receive for finding such a treasure trove town. He watched the town the whole day, counting the people, keeping track of when the watch shift changed, and then he saw something else that made him even happier. A woman with brown hair waddled out of one of the houses, holding the hand of a little girl with curly blond hair and a boy with curly brown hair. The woman was heavily pregnant, she had to be in her later months. The woman lowered herself on to the steps of the front porch, and watched as the children played catch with a handball.

The visual of a pregnant woman was the nail in the coffin. This town was perfect. He moved his binoculars to the front gate and noticed a sign posted out front.

 _Welcome to the Alexandria Safe Zone_

 _Mercy_ _for the Lost_

 _Vengeance_ _for the Plunderers_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After looking for more clues at the area of the crime, Sytira led the group into the village of Ouija. As they came over a hill, the village unfolded below them. There were scattered huts, tents, and shelters spanning acres of land. Between the houses were fields of crops, and enclosures with goats, pigs, chickens, and Walkers. The Walkers were kept almost as livestock, some with bells around their necks like cows.

Carl's mouth dropped open as they passed one of the fields where a woman in a Walker mask was plowing. Ten walkers were tied to her plow, pulling it along the rows. The Walkers had wood in their mouths so that they couldn't bite, and their hands were tied to each other to keep them together as a single unit. A piece of meat was hanging in front of the plow as motivation for the Walkers to move forwards and pull. They could see she had plowed many acres already, so her set up worked amazingly well. When she wanted the Walkers to turn, she would move the meat in another direction, and they would pull the plow in that direction.

"What the hell?" Carl asked in disbelief.

"I told you, the Walking Ones help us to live" Sytira said nonchalantly. "Without them, we wouldn't have been able to build Ouija."

They continued forward, passing many other huts and buildings where people were using Walkers in ingenious ways. Sytira pointed out several Walkers that were tied in an outward facing circle around a plot of crops. "When we tie them like this it keeps the rabbits, birds, and other animals from eating the crops" Sytira explained.

"This is amazing" Michonne commented. She had used Walkers herself for protection and camouflage, but she never would've thought of using them on such a major scale.

They made their way to a large tent that was open on three sides, and had poles that were holding it up. Sytira dismounted and the group followed behind her.

A large woman in a Walker mask, holding a large stick that doubled as a staff, approached them. "Have they been checked for weapons?" she demanded of Sytira.

Sytira gave the woman an annoyed look. "No. They have weapons, it's okay. This is Carl of Hilltop and his people, the ones Queen Lydia asked me to get."

The large woman stepped closer and tilted her head as if she were studying Carl. "Yes, I remember you."

Carl stared at the woman closer and realized he was looking at Epsilon, a woman who had once beaten Tommy so badly that he ran away from the Walker People, a woman who helped to attack the Hilltop, and attacked and threatened to kill Lydia. And yet she was here, acting as Lydia's guard.

"I am Daisy, Queen Lydia's second in command."

"Didn't you try to kill her?" Carl asked suspiciously.

"Queen Lydia has forgiven me for past transgressions against her. Did not your people _kidnap_ Omega?" Daisy said accusingly.

"His name is Tommy, and we rescued him from _your_ abuse! And he's doing just fine without you."

"We were making him strong…"

"Silence" a voice called from the tent, cutting off Daisy's sentence. Daisy and Sytira dropped to one knee as Lydia approached.

"Carl! You came!" Lydia said happily. She rushed forward as if she were about to hug him, and then caught herself. She stood up tall and held herself like a queen. "Carl, Rick, Michonne, welcome to Ouija. Thank you for coming."


	4. Chapter 4

"Carl, Rick, Michonne, welcome to Ouija, thank you for coming." Lydia was dressed in an outfit just as raggedy as the other women, and her face was covered with a mask. Her large blue eyes shone prominently from underneath the dead, rotting skin that was covering her face, and they looked wiser and even more hardened than they did when the group had last seen her. Lydia was never a push-over since they'd known her. She had survived underneath Alpha's crushing and brutal rule, and had fought to become and stay leader of this thriving village, and Carl could tell that her time as Queen had matured her even further.

Lydia waved a hand, and Daisy and Sytira stood from their kneeling position. "Thank you for getting them Sytira" Lydia said, and Sytira bowed again and then walked away.

"Please, come inside and have a seat" Lydia said, gesturing towards the inside of her spacious tent. It was shady inside, and a relief from the hot and humid day. The shade was really the extent of the luxuriousness of the tent. It had a dirt floor and a rickety desk in the center. There was no lighting on the inside, so the tent flaps were up to let in sunlight. The desk was surrounded by chairs, that Lydia extended an arm towards. The group entered and sat down on colorful simple metal chairs that had probably been scavenged from a school.

"Daisy, water please!" Lydia called, and the group could hear the older woman leave to go fetch some for the visitors. "I am so grateful that you're well" Lydia said, looking pointedly at Michonne, "and that you've come. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"I told you to come back and find us if you ever needed anything. I just hope we can help" Rick said sincerely.

"I'm sure Sytira told you that we've been attacked multiple times and our people and Walking Ones have been kidnapped."

"Yea. We stopped by one of the sites and found this" Rick said, holding up the canister of chloroform gas. "It's chloroform, knocks people out fast."

Lydia nodded. "We found another one of those canisters in the first attack. We figured it might be some sort of poison. Whoever these people are, they are organized and have resources."

"Tell us about the other attacks" Carl said.

"In the first attack, two children were taken while they tended the larger community herd. They went out in the morning like they usually do, just to count the Walking Ones, and make sure none wandered away in the night. Sometimes we feed the Walking Ones if they're getting weak, or make sure that they're undamaged. If some are needed for a task that day like plowing, or someone is journeying and need them as packers, the children round them up."

"Why the children?" Michonne asked, legitimately worried about why that would be a job for youngsters. Her mind thought back to Judith and how anything could happen when dealing with Walkers.

"Our children are well trained on how to deal with Walking Ones. We teach them to see them as part of the family. Many times the Walking Ones _are_ part of their family, an eventual reality of life. Our masks and clothes mask our humanity from the Walking Ones anyway, they really are no threat if you know what you're doing. We don't have many children here. Only three were born here since I founded Ouija, the rest were brought with groups that joined us. The older children are much harder to train than the younger ones. The two that were kidnapped, Mason and Luke, are very knowledgeable about how to deal with Walking Ones, that is why they were allowed to tend the large herd. They went out in the morning. Their mother came to me in the early afternoon after checking on them and she couldn't find them. A group of us searched the area and found a canister just like the one you're holding, but that was all. Luke and Mason were gone, as were some of the Walking Ones."

"See that's what I don't get" Glenn cut in. "Even if this group wants kids, why would they take Walkers too?"

"I've wondered the same" Lydia admitted. "I don't know what use they'd have with our Walking Ones. It was strange. We set out patrols and search parties, but we didn't find anything. It was like the boys just disappeared. And two days later, it happened again. In the second attack a friend of mine, Yesenia, and her daughter Aya, the first baby born in Ouija, were kidnapped from their home at night. Yesenia is pregnant with her second child. Her boyfriend is desperate. He is one of the archers and was on watch that same night and saw nothing. We have searched every day. Our archers are always watching our borders, and somehow it happened again."

"Were canisters found in the second attack?" Michonne asked.

"Yes, and we also saw several footsteps this time. We followed them to the river that borders our town, but then we lost them to the water. After the second attack we became more vigilant. Many let their Walking Ones loose into the fields at night, or tie them around their homes, to deter anyone from sneaking in."

"And the third attack?" Rick asked.

"Two children, Hope and Sonia, and seven Walking Ones were taken in the third attack. Once again, we found no tracks. Whoever is doing this is skilled in covering up their tracks, and they are obviously watching us. I have ordered that children cannot go out to tend the herds anymore, and everyone is on guard, but I didn't know what else to do. I figured if we had more allies, maybe we could find these people."

"So, they used gas in all the attacks, and in the second attack, they actually went into the house and got Yesenia and Aya."

"It seems that way" Lydia said, just as Daisy returned and distributed mugs of water for the travelers.

"And Yesenia is the only adult that was taken?" Carl asked.

"Yes. They've mostly been focusing on children. I don't know why they'd want a pregnant…" as soon as the words came out of Lydia's mouth, it clicked in everyone's head why they wanted Yesenia.

"They wanted her _because_ she was pregnant. But why are they stealing kids and pregnant women?" Carl asked, his mind immediately going to his very pregnant wife.

"That's what we need to find out" Rick said. "Ok, here's the plan. Glenn and I are gonna take a group back to the house where Yesenia and Aya were kidnapped and look for more clues, and I'll talk to her boyfriend too. Carl and Michonne, you lead a group to the site of the first attack and see if you can find anything. We'll meet back here in an hour. Keep vigilant, we're being watched. Don't let your guard down. I sent for back up from the Hilltop and the Kingdom, and they should be here in a day or two. I don't think we should go searching for whoever attacked you, at least not until then. We don't know how many people we're dealing with, and where exactly they are."

Lydia nodded, agreeing with the plan. "I am sending my guards to go with you when you search the other sites. They know the area, they can tell you if anything is suspicious."

Daisy, hearing Lydia's command, ducked out of the tent to go gather the Ouijian guards. Lydia watched as Rick split the members of the Alexandrian defense team that had accompanied them to Ouija into two groups.

Daisy returned to the tent with 15 Walker People who joined the two groups. The Alexandrians turned up their noses at their smell. The Walker People didn't just look like Walkers, they smelled like them too.

"Thank you again Rick, Carl, and Michonne" Lydia said, "I knew I could count on you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He watched the town called Alexandria the rest of the day and into the next. He didn't even bother to follow when he saw the savage woman and some of the people she had met the day before, leave one of the homes and climb on to horses and head away from the town. He wasn't interested in the savage woman anymore, he had found what he was looking for.

He recorded every change of shift for the guards, he mapped out the houses and the number of people he observed entering and leaving each one, he counted the number of children he spotted, and more importantly, how many pregnant women. The pregnant ones were priority. He watched as the pregnant woman, who must've lived with one of the people who set off with the savage woman, and the five children that she seemed to be responsible for, enter a home with another woman with dark hair, and a little boy. His notebook was almost full when the sun started to set on the second day. The pregnant woman didn't leave the house that she had gone to. She must be staying the night. This was perfect. When they attacked, this house would be a high priority. A pregnant woman and six children of various ages, a perfect sample size. And if some of them were related, even better. Dr. Kay always wanted to study the genetics behind the disease.

The dark-haired woman, who must've been the mother of the little boy was not needed, but she could be useful if they took her along for the ride.

As soon as it got too dark to make any more observations, he pulled out his long-range radio and turned it on.

"Lone Ranger to base" he whispered. It was a still night, and he didn't want his conversation to echo and be heard by the guards on the gates.

After a few seconds, he could hear laughter crackle over the radio and someone snickered "Lone Ranger? Out of all the call signs, that's what you pick?"

"Hey shut up. How about a 'how are you?', 'Where have you been for the past 5 days', 'What have you found?', what about that?" he whispered harshly.

"What have you found?" The voice asked mockingly.

"Tell Dr. Kay I found two towns. Both with many people, but the last one is a goldmine. It has kids of various ages, and at least one heavily pregnant woman, a perfect candidate. But, this last town has a lot of people, and lots of guns. It'll be hard to take them."

"What do you suggest, lone ranger?" the voice on the other end taunted.

"Keep it light, two trucks, and children and pregnant ones only. We can't do stealth on this one, they have walls. If the adults fight back, and seeing by the number of weapons that they carry, they will, we gas the town. Knock them all out if we have to, and take what we want. This'll have to be shock and awe. We get in, and get out quick. I just hope when we're successful, you remember who found this little gem."

"Yea, yea. I'll tell Dr. Kay, just give us your location. And watch that town. If there are any changes we need to know about, you tell us."

He radioed Alexandria's location, based on the position of the stars as he'd been taught. Once they knew where he was, he turned off his radio to conserve the battery, and focused on the town again, which was now bathed in darkness and shadow.

If the trucks left in the morning and traveled non-stop, they'd get to this town by tomorrow. He knew if this raid was successful he would be rewarded, so he slept well that night, thinking about what he'd do with his fame.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two groups searched for more clues amongst the attack sites. They met back at Lydia's tent to inform her of their findings. Carl and Michonne found nothing new at the first attack site, and Rick and Glenn didn't have good news either.

"Yesenia's boyfriend said he left for his guard shift around sun down. Yesenia and Aya were in the living room when he left, and he didn't notice anything strange on his way to his shift. When he came home they were both gone. He said that the doorknob was knocked off the front door, and some chairs in the dining room were knocked over, he did find a gas canister, but that was it, and nothing was taken… besides the people obviously…" Glenn explained.

"Have your people ever experienced anything like this?" Lydia asked Carl. "Do you know who could be doing this?"

"No. This is never happened to us at the Hilltop. And I know Alexandria has never had people just go missing like this before. Whoever is doing this is new, and we need to set up a secure perimeter to keep them out" Carl said. Rick nodded in agreement, and looked on at his son. He couldn't've said it better.

"You need to have sentries surrounding the town 24/7 in groups of two at least. Every inch of your border needs to be monitored, and you should have a curfew. No one walks around after sundown. I also think it's wise if no one goes to tend your herds for a while. The Walkers will be okay for a few days."

Lydia nodded. "Thank you, Carl and Rick, for your advice. I will follow it. Daisy, see that everything they said is done."

Daisy bowed, "Yes my Queen." She motioned for the rest of the Walker People to follow her out of the tent. Rick also motioned with his head for Alexandria's defense team to exit the tent as well, leaving Lydia alone with Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Glenn.

As soon as the others left, Lydia let her queenly guard down and sighed. "I really am glad to see all of you. This is the first time I've ever dealt with something like this. I'm a little in over my head. The others look to me to know what to do, but I don't know what to do about this. I don't know how to get the children back. If we lived the way we did with Alpha, I know I would be challenged for leadership of the group because of this. Because I failed to protect the children. I'm surprised no one has challenged me already…"

"No one has challenged you because you're a good leader" Carl cut in. "What you've done here is amazing. They know that. We'll get the kids back. I… I mean I hope we will. When our back-up gets here we can search the surrounding woods and all the towns for miles. Whoever has done this has to be nearby."

Lydia nodded and smiled. "Michonne, how is the baby?"

"Oh, Mhare isn't a baby anymore. He's five and he thinks he's a big boy" Michonne said with a chuckle. "He can be a handful sometimes, but he's healthy."

"I'm glad. And Enid? And your baby?" Lydia asked Carl.

"Enid is great, and so is our daughter, Carla. And we're expecting another one in a few months" Carl replied.

"That's great. I'd love to visit, when this is over. And I think we're ready to interact with other settlements now. This has made me realize that the more allies we have, the stronger we are as a people. In order for us to grow, we need more friends, not less."

"Why is your town named Ouija?" Glenn asked, out of the blue.

Lydia chuckled. "My closest advisors and I were looking for a name that emphasized how we worked closely with the dead. Daisy mentioned she used to be fond of Ouija boards when she was younger, and that she'd try to contact dead family members on it. The name stuck." Lydia's eyes suddenly widened. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. You have been here for hours and we haven't offered you food or rest. You and your people can stay here in this tent. We will bring cots and food for you. In the morning, we will map out an area that hasn't been searched yet."

"Thank you, Lydia" Rick said, nodding.

"Because of the circumstances, I must ask that you not leave the tent during the night. Our town is no longer safe."

"We understand" Carl assured her.

"Goodnight to all of you. Rest well. And thank you again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the afternoon of the next day, he turned on his radio to update the soldiers on the goings on inside the town. There were six people on watch, standing on the town's walls. Currently, most of the children were gathered in the town's church. An attack now would've been perfect, but a daylight attack was risky and probably suicidal. Besides, the trucks wouldn't be arriving until sundown at least. The pregnant woman was still in the house with the dark-haired woman, he'd seen the two of them re-enter after dropping the children off in the church which must serve as a school or daycare. He relayed the intel to the others who expected to be there well after nightfall. He spent the day watching, and caught the two women picking the children up from the church. The two youngest, the curly haired boy and girl running ahead, while the two older boys and two girls walked beside the women until they all entered the house.

He wondered what they were doing inside the house. Reading stories to the children? Baking cookies? Talking about their day? All of those things seemed like a dead practice now, but a pang of guilt pricked his soul. He was possibly, actually probably, assigning these children to their deaths.

 _Better their children than ours_ he thought, and his soul immediately felt lighter. Yes, these children were going to save many lives, maybe all of humanity. Especially the unborn one. Some may die, but it was worth it. And it was better the children from this community, then the children from his own.

Around 8 PM, long after the sun had set, he heard a crackle over his radio. "We're here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, you're heading back to Hilltop in the morning?" Maggie asked Enid, who was stirring a steaming pot of tomato soup.

"Yep, I'm sure Amy will throw me a parade when I get back. Every time I leave she has a panic attack. I've trained her to handle almost any kind of medical emergency, but she still doesn't have confidence in herself."

"Well, think of when Dr. Carson was still alive. If he left for a few days you would've probably had a panic attack too" Maggie said with a smirk.

"Yea I guess" Enid said, "I remember when I found out he'd died, and I had to do Michonne's surgery all by myself, on my kitchen table, I had a small breakdown too. But Carl brought me back."

"Yea, he's good like that" Maggie agreed. "Well, I'm certainly gonna miss you. It's always nice to see you and Carl, Tommy, and God, Carla looks more like you every day."

"Really?" Enid asked, turning off the heat on the soup. "To me she looks just like her daddy. She definitely is a Junior. And soon she's gonna have… an aunt or uncle to play with?"

Maggie laughed and patted her abdomen. "This whole family dynamic is just weird. Like, Mhare and Carla are uncle and niece, but they're the same age. And your baby and my baby will be like that too. It's like some weird backwoods family."

"Well, backwoods family is still family" Enid said with a shrug. "We've gotta repopulate the world somehow, huh?"

Maggie laughed and leaped off the stool she was sitting on. "Let me get the kids."

She walked into the living room and the scene in front of her warmed her heart on so many levels. Joy and Carla were sitting on the floor near the couch, and Joy was attempting to do Carla's hair. Half of Carla's head was already full of randomly placed ponytails, held by Scrunchies, that stuck up in all directions on the young girl's head. Carla was using the mirror to watch the process critically, as Joy focused, squinting her blue eyes as she concentrated on tightening one of the ponytails. "Okay I'm almost done" Joy announced as if she were an expert artist, almost finished creating her masterpiece.

Maggie smiled and observed the other side of the living room, where Judy, Tommy, Mhare, and Hershel were making a city out of a hundred Legos that Glenn had snagged from a Toy R Us a few years ago. Mhare was more smashing the Lego pieces together, or sticking them together haphazardly, but the older children were creating elaborate houses, and the others graciously allowed Mhare to attach his chaotic creations to theirs so that he'd feel included.

Hershel found some Lego wheels and even created a mini Lego car that he was rolling around their makeshift city. "What've you got there, Hershey?" Maggie asked her son. He lifted it up to show her.

"This city is amazing" Maggie said, "but unfortunately it's time to eat dinner. So… it's clean up time."

"Awwwww" Mhare said loudly. "Can't we play a little more?"

"Nope. You guys have a long trip tomorrow with Enid and you need to eat and then get to bed"

"Mommmmmm…" Hershel started, but a quick look from Maggie made him stop. He pouted, but shoved his car into the Lego box.

The children cleaned up the living room, Carla and Joy putting away the hair supplies, as the rest of them picked up the Legos. Soon, Judy was the only one left in the living room as the others had shirked off the Lego cleaning duties. She closed the box and returned it to its rightful place in the closet, and then moved to join everyone else in the dining room when she saw a small configuration of Legos sticking out from underneath the couch. Mhare must've inadvertently kicked them under while they were playing. She grabbed up the mountain of Legos, and feeling too lazy to open the closet and return them to their box, she shoved them into her jeans pocket, reasoning she'd put them away later.

She joined the table, sitting next to Tommy who was reaching for some toast that Enid had finished buttering.

"You'll have fun at Hilltop" Carla was telling Joy. "Daddy made us a tree house, and it has a ladder _and_ a place we can hide in. Right Tommy?" Carla asked.

"Yes" Tommy confirmed quietly.

"Can we sleep up there too?" Mhare asked, suddenly excited at the prospect of sleeping in a tree house.

"No you can't sleep there" Enid said, "but you guys are welcome to play up there"

"And Tommy has a new bike too, and sometimes mommy lets us go swimming in the lake" Carla said.

"Sounds like you guys will have a little vacation" Maggie offered, "I wish Hershey and I could come, but definitely next time."

Distant yells and loud pops coming from outside gradually grabbed Maggie's attention. "Shhh" she said, jumping up and looking out her kitchen window. She could only see darkness, but she could hear shouting, and then a loud boom that shook the house.

"Something's happenin'!" Maggie yelled, and Enid jumped up from the table to join her by the window. "Get the guns" Maggie hissed to Enid, and Enid took off towards Maggie and Glenn's bedroom where they hid several guns.

The children, well trained for what to do during emergencies, stopped talking and stared at Maggie waiting for instructions.

"Everyone go upstairs to Hershel's room, turn off the lights and lock the doors" Maggie ordered, as more gunshots pierced the night. Judith and Tommy jumped up from the table, attempting to herd the younger children from the kitchen to do what Maggie had asked, when the sound of several footsteps creaking on the porch by the kitchen drew their attention.

"Get upstairs now!" Maggie screamed at the children, and suddenly the kitchen door imploded, creating an explosion that knocked her to the ground. Before she could get up, she heard clinks as something metallic bounced and skidded across the kitchen floor, and suddenly the kitchen was filling with smoke and gas.

Maggie coughed heavily as she pulled herself to her feet. "Run!" she screamed, but her sharp intake of breath to talk caused her to choke on the thick gas. She felt someone grabbing her arm, and she snatched her arm away, and kicked at whoever it was. Unable to see because her eyes were tearing heavily, she stumbled towards the entrance to the living room, tripping over a child who was laying on the floor. She grabbed whoever it was she tripped on, and attempted to pull them from the kitchen. She tried to scream "Run" again when she collapsed with the child in her arms.

Tommy had dropped to the floor after the explosion, but was engulfed in the smoke that flooded the kitchen, making him dizzy. He struggled to his feet, but for some reason it felt like he was walking through mud. He could tell people had entered the kitchen, and within seconds strong arms were wrapped around his waist. Using all the strength he could muster, he pulled his knife and slashed at the person holding him. They screamed in surprise, and pushed him forward, causing him to topple to the floor and hit his head on one of the dining room chairs, knocking him out.

Enid grabbed the guns from the bedroom and was heading back downstairs when she heard the explosion in the kitchen. She cocked one of the guns and ran towards the kitchen as she spotted Judy and Joy stumbling up the stairs, coughing heavily. She heard Maggie scream "Run!", and thick gas was leaking from the kitchen in an all-encompassing cloud. Enid trained her weapon into the fog, but was afraid to shoot for fear that she'd hit Maggie or one of the kids.

"Maggie!" Enid screamed into the kitchen, but there was no response from her, or the other children.

Enid inched closer to the kitchen, but the smoke was slowly wafting towards her, making her cough and slightly dizzy. She got to the kitchen entrance, aiming her gun into the smoke, when a hand snatched the gun from her, taking her by surprise. Someone pulled her deeper into the kitchen, holding her arms as she flailed, kicking and twisting to get away. She was starting to feel more and more dizzy.

"I got the pregnant one!" she heard someone say. Listening to the direction the voice came from, Enid turned and kicked, connecting with a leg. "Oof. And she's feisty!" the person laughed, not letting go of her. The more Enid struggled, the more the room seemed to spin. "Carla!" Enid managed to scream before coughing uncontrollably.

 _Gas. It's the gas._ She thought, before black spots filled her vision and she passed out.

Judy pulled Joy up the stairs by her elbow. "Where is… where…" Joy tried to speak, but coughing interrupted her sentences. Judy dragged her sister into the upstairs bathroom and locked the door.

"We have to get… Mhare…" Joy gasped.

"We can't" Judy rasped, pressing her back against the door in terror, her brown eyes wide in a panic. She could hear footsteps downstairs, and more gunshots and yells coming from outside.

"We're missing two!" someone shouted. "The two older girls, they're not down here."

"Check upstairs, hurry up, we're already behind schedule" someone else yelled.

"We can't get… out…" Joy said, pointing to the window.

Judy's heart was beating a mile a minute. "Shhh, just get in the bathtub" she whispered.

The two girls climbed into the tub and stayed silent, as the footsteps moved from room to room. Someone tried the door, jiggling the handle.

"They're in here" the person called. "Open the door girls, we know you're here. No one is going to hurt you."

When they were greeted with silence, the person continued. "You have until the count of three, and then we'll have to knock the door down. No one wants you to get hurt, I promise. I know the way we came in here was a little scary, but we didn't want anyone to hurt us either."

Once again, the girls were silent.

"Gas 'em" the man said. Joy's eyes widened when she heard a hiss and gas started leaking underneath the bathroom door. Thinking fast, Judy grabbed two towels and handed one to Joy while she pressed the second against her face.

"Don't breathe it in! It's poison!" Judy said, her voice muffled against the towel. More and more gas filled the room, causing both girls to cough and gasp. A loud bang against the door frightened them even more, as the people tried to open it. Joy was barely hanging on to consciousness, and Judy was losing the fight as well.

"Don't…" Judy began, trying to warn her sister, when she fainted mid-sentence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Move it! Move it!" someone screamed, their voice muffled through their gas mask, as they hauled the last two unconscious children from the target house and into the back of the truck. Bullets whizzed past the soldiers' heads as they ducked behind the truck for cover.

"Throw more canisters!"

"We only have two left!"

"Well throw them before you're too dead to throw them!"

This town had more firearms than any of the towns or settlements that they'd come across, and the group was completely outnumbered. They had incapacitated the guards at the front gates with gas, but more and more people were pouring out of the houses and firing at them. The remaining gas canisters were launched at the people who were shooting at them, causing them to gasp and fall to their knees.

"We have the ones we came for. Let's go!"

The remaining soldiers hopped back into the trucks, many nursing injuries and bullet wounds.

"Go! Get outta here!" someone screamed, and the trucks took off through the front gates that had been blasted open, tires squealing. They peeled down the pitch-black road with their lights off so they couldn't be followed easily. They turned around and could see the path of destruction they'd caused. People were either gasping on their hands and knees, or unconscious from the fast acting gas. For right now, no one was following them.

"That was an awesome find, _Lone Ranger_. Maybe you're not quite a loser after all" a woman who was driving one of the trucks said.

He turned around to glance at the sleeping prisoners who were laying haphazardly in the back of the truck, double checking if they hadn't stopped breathing. Sometimes that happened if they got a dose that was too strong.

"Yea, awesome" he repeated, his eyes resting on the children's sleeping faces.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A jostling bump made Judy suddenly aware that she had been sleeping. She could hear a motor revving, and with the constant shaking she was feeling, she knew she was in a vehicle. She could tell she had been sleeping a long time by the way her neck was sore. She snapped her eyes open, immediately realizing that something wasn't right. She looked around and realized her head was resting on Enid's forearm, and Hershel's foot was hiked up onto her leg. In the darkness of the night she could faintly make out Mhare's curly head resting on Maggie's stomach, and Carla, Joy, and Tommy were thrown in a pile in the corner of the bed of the truck, as if they'd all just been dumped in in a hurry. Judy rolled her eyes in the other direction and saw that the people who had kidnapped them were all in the cab of the truck, leaving her and her family to sleep in the truck bed.

 _What is going on?_ Judy thought, her head still in a daze. Slowly, the events that happened a few hours before began to replay themselves in her head. The explosion that blasted open the kitchen door, the gas, running and hiding in the bathroom with Joy, and finally, passing out. They must've been taken.

 _But why am I the only one awake?_ Judy discreetly reached over and tapped Enid on the neck. She didn't stir. She tried shaking Hershel and Tommy, but no one else moved but her. They weren't just sleeping, they were unconscious.

 _Ok, what do I do?_ Judy thought. She knew getting the attention of the people in the front of the truck was a bad idea. They obviously didn't know she was awake and she wanted to keep it that way, and the truck was moving too quickly for her to jump out the back. She reached down and couldn't believe that her knife was still tied to her belt. _At least I have a weapon._ She was laying on her side and something was digging into her hip. She reached down to feel what it was and realized that she still had the Lego tower she had picked up from the living room floor. In Survival Class, she had learned that if you're ever taken, create as much of a trail as you can so someone can find you. She knew her Uncle Daryl was a great tracker, and if she left a trail he could find it.

She rolled over slightly so that she was facing the back of the truck. The bed of the truck let out a creak, and she froze, slamming her eyes closed, but keeping them open enough that she could see through her long eyelashes. She could see a head turn around quickly to glance at her, and then swiftly face front again. She stayed still for another minute until she was convinced no one was watching her again. Slowly she broke off one of the Legos and threw it over the back of the truck into the road. She counted to sixty and did the same thing again, continuously throwing the multicolored toys until she was down to her last one. She heaved the last one off the back of the truck just before they came to an off ramp on the road they were on. She knew that if they were changing direction, she had to let Uncle Daryl know which way they were going. She didn't have any more Legos.

Panicking, Judy searched the back of the truck for something to throw, her eyes focusing on Carla's hair and the many Scrunchies that made up her crazy hairstyle. As silently as possible, Judy slid towards Carla and pulled at one of her Scrunchies, pulling it out of her hair and releasing the pony tail that it was holding. Judy continued to toss Carla's Scrunchies off the back of the truck until the girl's hair was completely free. When Judy heard movement, she lay back down and closed her eyes again. She did what she could do for the moment. She hoped that someone would be able to find them.

 ** _Author's Note_** ** _: I apologize for the long wait for the update. I was busy, but also this chapter gave me so much grief. I knew where I wanted to go at the end of it, but couldn't find the words to get there, and then I was worried that it was too boring so I just stopped writing for a while and got really unmotivated. I personally like lots of action and dialogue, and this chapter wasn't it for me, but I promise the next few chapters will have lots of action and dialogue and bad-ass-ness. And also, even if I take some time between updates I will always finish my stories. Anyway, please give me a review, or even tell me what you want to see happen. I have a plan for this story, but sometimes the suggestions that you guys give make my stories so much better. I'd love to hear from you!_**


	5. Chapter 5

Late the next afternoon, Rick and Michonne were showing Lydia how to lay out a search grid around Ouija. He had done it a few times as a Sherriff's deputy, but the only time he had done it post-apocalypse was when they were looking for Sofia. He was skeptical about finding the missing people alive. God knows what they were kidnapped for, but he wouldn't give up until he at least tried. The Ouijians were getting restless. It had been more than a week since the first children were abducted, and the lack of clues and leads were grating on the family and friends of the missing.

"We search this area today, keeping an eye out for tracks or more of those canisters. We can get in a few good hours of searching…" Rick was saying, when Daisy burst into the tent.

"Queen Lydia, people have been spotted in cars across the river. We don't know if they are the back up from the other communities, or if they are invaders. The archers are holding position. They're attempting to cross the river."

Lydia and the others took off running towards the river. When they got there, the archers were up in the trees that surrounded the river bank, pointing their arrows at a small group of people who were wading through the belly deep water. They had left their cars on the opposite side of the river, with some of their people aiming guns to give cover to those wading across the water. The archers were so well hidden in the trees, it was obvious that the river waders and their back-up hadn't spotted them.

"I think I see Aaron" Carl said, squinting and pointing at one of the people in the river, who was swimming hard to stay above the deep water. "And that's James, he's on the Hilltop defense team."

"Are you sure?" Lydia asked Carl.

"That's definitely Aaron" Michonne agreed, nodding.

Lydia whistled and the archers relaxed. It took a few minutes for the small group to swim across the river. It seemed effortless to cross when they had arrived at Ouija on horseback, but unlike the horses, the swimmers were really having difficulty combatting the strong current. After a short struggle, the swimmers made it to the opposite shore, and the back-up that was waiting by the cars relaxed a bit. Aaron, James, and two other men from Hilltop struggled to get out the water, their clothes soaked and dripping. The four staggered on to shore and turned around to wave to the others by the car to let them know everyone was okay. They still had no idea that they were surrounded by Walker People. Rick cleared his throat and stepped forward from the bushes, startling the newcomers who pulled out knives. As soon as they saw who it was they put their weapons away.

"Hey, you guys got here faster than I expected" Rick said, holding out a hand and shaking Aaron's. "I thought you'd bring horses, since Alexandria is low on gasoline right now. We need to save the cars for emergencies…" Rick began.

Aaron sighed deeply and interrupted Rick. "Rick… this _is_ an emergency. Alexandria was attacked."

Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Glenn's heads all snapped to Aaron, and there wasn't a single sound as they stared at him.

"S-someone attacked us, they blew open the gates and released knock out gas. They um… they kidnapped people."

"Just like what they did here" Michonne said softly, "it must've been the same people who've been attacking Ouija."

"Was anyone hurt?" Glenn asked carefully, seeing that Aaron didn't seem to finish everything he wanted to say.

"No one was hurt permanently. Lots of people were knocked out from the gas… but… they only attacked one house."

Rick's stomach turned, and suddenly he knew what house was attacked, and he could see it on everyone else's face that they knew too.

"Where's Maggie?" Glenn asked stepping forward, panic registering in his eyes.

"They attacked your house, Glenn. They took everyone…" Aaron admitted, before his voice cracked with emotion.

"What do you mean they _took_ everyone?" Glenn asked in disbelief.

"They took Maggie, Enid, and all the kids. I'm so sorry to all of you. We tried… we tried to stop them but we were unprepared for the gas. I'm… I'm sorry."

The group of four just stared at Aaron blankly, still not comprehending what he was saying.

"Someone took our kids?" Carl asked, his voice deepening as he advanced on Aaron. "Someone attacked Alexandria and took our kids, and _you_ didn't stop them? Where were you? Who was on watch? How could this happen!?" Carl was now screaming. "And all you can say is you're sorry? You're sorry? My wife and my children and my siblings are gone and you're _sorry_?" Glenn, Rick, and Michonne were deathly silent as Carl voiced what they were all thinking.

"Did anyone even go after them?" Carl was now screaming. "What were you doing? You were supposed to protect them!"

"We tried!" Aaron said softly, but he understood that no matter what he said, Carl couldn't hear it.

Without speaking a word, Rick and Michonne simultaneously dove into the river and began swimming back across it towards the cars. Glenn followed a second later, and so did Carl. The others from Hilltop and Alexandria, seeing that the group was leaving, began to scramble to follow them.

"We will follow" Lydia said to Daisy and Sytira. "They will find the kidnappers, and we will be there when they do."

Once they made it across the river, Rick and Michonne ran at one of the cars, and the person who had been waiting in front of the sedan wisely moved out of the way. A soaked Rick ripped the driver door open, and Michonne slipped into the passenger side as Glenn, Carl, and Aaron who ran wildly to catch up with them piled into the back. Rick didn't wait for Aaron to close the door before he peeled off towards Alexandria, leaving the remaining people to follow whenever they got themselves together.

"It was after sundown yesterday. The night watch was incapacitated with knockout gas. They fired some rounds, it got the rest of us out of our houses, but then the gates were blown in with what sounded like a bomb. It was like a military operation. We ran towards the gates with our guns but some of them threw the gas canisters and we didn't have any defense against it. They specifically targeted your house Glenn, it was the only one they went after. They must've been watching us, but I don't know what they were aiming for…" Aaron explained.

"The kids. And Enid. They've been taking pregnant women and kids" Glenn said through clenched teeth. "You think… you think they knew about Maggie somehow? We didn't tell anyone she was pregnant but family, but what if they knew?"

"Who is looking for them?" Michonne asked, so quietly that the others almost didn't hear her. It was the first time she'd spoken since she heard the news, and her voice was shaking with anger and anguish.

"Daryl is. He left a little while after they were taken. He also breathed in the gas and he had to wait for the effects to clear before he left, or he would've been out sooner. He took a walkie, said he'd radio in when he found a trail. We left at sunrise to get some people from the Hilltop before we came here."

The car was silent again. Everyone was thinking about Maggie, Enid and the children. Michonne, realizing that Rick hadn't spoken since they got in the car, turned to look at him. He was hunched over in the driver's seat, his face pale and sweaty. Both of his hands were clenching the wheel and shaking, and she wasn't sure if he was going to punch the car window or burst into tears, but something was about to explode inside of him. Slowly, as if she were trying to touch a wild animal, she reached out and rested her fingers on his right hand. She could feel him immediately relax, his grip on the wheel loosening slightly. He didn't bring his eyes to meet hers, but she knew that he knew what she was telling him.

 _It's okay. We'll find them._

Michonne then turned around to face Carl, whose face was red in rage. She knew him well enough to know that he was full of fury at the moment. His reaction to Aaron was every indication of that. She had to use her voice to get to him and Glenn.

"Daryl will find a trail. I _know_ he will. And we will find them." She stared into Carl's eyes until he stared back. "We will find Enid, and Tommy, and Carla." She turned to Glenn. "We will find Maggie, and Hershel." She turned to face Rick again, "We will find Judy, and Joy, and Mhare. We will because there is no other option. I'm _not_ losing my family again. This is war."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick was driving so quickly they made it back to Alexandria around midnight. They pulled up to the darkened, destroyed front gates, and were met with a collection of weapons being pointed in their faces.

"It's Rick! Calm down!" someone yelled.

Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and Carl all headed straight to Glenn's house without saying a word to anyone. Everyone else moved out of the way. No one wanted to get the brunt of their wrath, especially since no one else's children were taken but theirs. When they reached the kitchen door, Glenn began to run. It was still open and off the hinges like a bomb had blown it up. The bowls of tomato soup were still on the table, and a pot of soup was on the stove.

"They were eating dinner" Glenn said, his heart breaking as he saw the gas canisters that were left on the kitchen floor. "They attacked a bunch of kids who were eating dinner!" he yelled. They all could tell there was a struggle, chairs were on their sides and Carl's heart dropped when he saw blood on the leg of one of the chairs. They moved through the house further and saw very little signs of struggle in the living room. Rick and Michonne went to check the upstairs, as Carl and Glenn searched for clues downstairs.

As Michonne walked up the stairs she could feel impending doom. She stayed close to Rick as they approached the first bedroom, which was Glenn and Maggie's. The closets were open as if they were looking for something, or someone. The answer came to her as soon as she thought the question.

"The kids were hiding. At least some of them were. They were looking for them in the closets."

Rick nodded his agreement. They left Glenn and Maggie's room and their attention was drawn to the bathroom door which had been kicked in. Michonne ran past Rick into the room and kicked another gas canister. There were two towels in the bottom of the bathtub, and a shoe. Joy's shoe. Michonne picked up the shoe gently, holding it in front of her face. As she lovingly ran her fingers over the side of the shoe, her brow crinkled in agony and her eyes were involuntarily squeezed tight. Rick knew she was about to crack. Her lip poked out like a child, and he wrapped his arms around her just before she began sobbing.

"Someone gassed them!" Michonne gasped through sobs, "They poisoned our babies and they dragged them out of here! They hurt our babies!"

Rick was crying too, but they both knew as they stood here and cried their children were getting further and further away.

"Let's go!" Carl yelled from downstairs, his voice booming and angry. The couple made their way back downstairs, Michonne wiping her eyes before she was seen.

"Glenn and I are driving the roads, Aaron said Daryl is out there, maybe we'll run into him. He can tell us if he's found anything"

"We're goin' too" Rick said.

The four of them headed out of the house and back towards their car, when members of the Hilltop defense team, and a few Ouijians who had bummed rides with the back-up group, arrived.

Sytira, who had ridden in a car with Lydia, Daisy, and some members of the Hilltop defense team jumped out and ran up to Carl who was getting into a car.

"Carl of the Hilltop. I think I know how they found this town. I believe I might have been followed when I came to get you. If that is true, Hilltop is also in danger of being attacked."

Carl stared at Sytira from behind the open car door. "Did you see someone following you?"

"No. But how else would they have known where this town is? I was vigilant, and I never knew anyone was watching me. They must be very good at hiding, attacking, and then disappearing. They could be watching us now."

Carl called over James, who was one of his most trusted members of the Hilltop Defense Team. "Get back to Hilltop. Hilltop is on lockdown until further notice. We need double the amount of guards, and children need to stay inside at all times. It's possible they are looking for specific houses where children are. Get some people over to the Kingdom and warn them too, but if you have any suspicions that you're being followed, don't continue to the Kingdom. We don't need to give these people another town to attack. If you're followed, go back to Hilltop and set signal fires for the Kingdom. They'll know something is wrong and to be on alert."

James nodded but hesitated for a moment. "Carl, I want to help search. Enid, Tommy, and Carla, I love them all too. Your family is like my family. I'll do anything you need."

"I need you to go warn Hilltop" Carl said with a hint of anger in his voice that James knew wasn't directed towards him. "If I don't make it back, you're in charge."

"Wait! Wait! Rick!" Rosita was yelling, as she ran towards them with a walkie held up in the air. "It's Daryl, he's found something!"

"Where is he?" Rick barked

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After what seemed like forever, the truck finally slowed down, and then suddenly stopped, causing Judy and the rest of her sleeping family to slide forward in the truck bed. She cautiously gazed through her eyelashes at Maggie and Enid, who were still fast asleep. She knew that if they were awake they'd know what to do, but for now, she was on her own. She glanced over at Carla and Mhare, to double check that they were okay. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to her niece and her little brother. When she turned her head slightly to look at Joy, she noticed her little sister's eyes were open and staring at her in terror. Judy slowly brought her finger up to her lips, warning Joy to stay quiet.

The doors of the truck squeaked open and slammed closed as the soldiers in the cab climbed out.

"Gurneys!" someone yelled, and a few seconds later Judy could hear the squeak of many things on wheels heading towards them.

"Get the pregnant one first, then the kids" a voice was directing. "Which one got a bump on the head?"

"The oldest boy. You need to check that out."

When the back of the truck was pulled down with a loud bang, Judy and Joy both closed their eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"How many casualties?" another voice asked.

"Two minor gunshots, Josiah got one in the arm, Travis got one in the foot, although you'd never know by the way they were moaning and groaning on the ride here. And a few people got scratches and bruises from the subjects. They didn't come easily. Just keep your guard up with the adults."

The vehicle shifted slightly as someone climbed up on to the truck bed. She tried her best to control her breathing, as someone dragged Enid out from underneath her. Judith winced when her head rolled off of Enid's arm, but luckily no one seemed to notice.

"Hey careful with her, she's our cash cow!" the person asking the questions ordered. They then continued the conversation. "And the children?"

"Eh, they were easy enough. But we think the two adults are the mothers of at least some of these kids. Let's see if we can find out which."

Judith stealthily watched as Enid was loaded on to a gurney and strapped down. As soon as her gurney left, another one was pushed to the front, and another one of her family members were rolled off. Enid was followed by Tommy, Carla, Mhare, Maggie, Joy, Hershel, and then finally Judith.

She went limp as someone slid their arms under her, picked her up, and dropped her on to the bed. They tied straps across her chest, arms, and feet, so she couldn't move if she'd wanted to.

"This is the last one, clean the truck and we go back to underground mode."

Judith let her head lull to the side so she could get a good view of where she was going as she was rolled down an alley on the side of a brick building. She was pushed through wide doors into a dark hallway. It was so dark inside the building that she was tempted to open her eyes wider to get a better view, but she figured that wouldn't be a good idea. At the end of the hallway, the person who was pushing her stopped for a few seconds as if they were waiting. Judith wished she could see more, but she listened carefully, and noticed the humming sound of machinery doing something.

After a few seconds, she heard a bell ring loudly that startled her, and she let out a sharp gasp.

"Hey, you awake?" the person pushing her whispered. Judith didn't move or respond and allowed her eyes to close fully, hoping the person thought she just breathed hard in her sleep.

Her eyes were closed now, so she could only hear as the sound of doors rumbling open interrupted the silence. Assuming she was still sleeping, the person continued to push her forward, but abruptly stopped again. Judith heard the doors rumbling closed. The mechanical sound resumed for a few seconds, and Judith could feel her gurney shaking from side to side as if she were in a vehicle, but she wasn't being pushed. She had never felt a feeling like it before.

The mechanical humming stopped, and when the bell rang again she didn't jump this time. The doors rumbled open again, and to her surprise, when she was rolled out of the doors she could see bright light through her closed eyelids. She was rolled a few more feet into another room. She squinted through her eyelashes again so she could see. The room was large, white, circular, and occupied with the gurneys of the rest of her family members except for Enid and Maggie who were taken somewhere else. Her bed was parked between Joy and Tommy's. There were other people walking around in the room, but she couldn't tell how many. The people were looking at bright blinking screens, and holding equipment that looked similar to what she remembered from the infirmary, on the rare occasion her parents brought her there because she was sick.

Judith could see that Joy was doing a stellar job of pretending to be asleep. A woman in a white jacket entered the room. Her dirty blond hair was short and cut right below her ears, and she wore glasses that were low on her nose that she constantly pushed upwards. Her skin was pale and pasty like she hadn't seen the sun in a long time, and her eyebrows were dark brown and slightly furry, and her teeth didn't look very well taken care of. Judith internally cringed. If she learned anything from Michonne, it was the importance of dental hygiene. The woman was petite and not much taller than her, but Judith could tell she was in charge. Everyone else in the room seemed to get out of her way as she walked past the beds of her newest charges.

"They're still sleeping? _Some_ of them should be awake by now. How much gas did you give them?" the woman asked, running her fingers through her hair.

"It's gas, we can't control how much they breathe in Dr. Kay" a young, thin man told her. Judy recognized him as the person who turned around to look at her when the truck was bringing them here.

"Shit, quick, get them hooked up. Check their vitals, we could be killing them!" Dr. Kay said to the people in the room. Judy watched out of the corner of her eye as the people scrambled, dragging wheeled equipment over to her family, and putting various sensors on their bodies.

"Well you're welcome, I brought you a pregnant one, a spare, and 6 kids! More than we've ever brought back at once. It's your dream. The least you can say is thank you. The most you can do is promote me."

"Just because you've finally done your job correctly for once, doesn't mean you get a thank you. Now, if you can get more from that _other_ town, especially more pregnant women, I may just have a surprise for you."

"Ok, I'll work on that Dr. Kay. But seriously, what do I get out of this? I mean…"

"Julian, get out of my office. Mama's at work" Dr. Kay said to the man.

Judy watched the man deflate as Dr. Kay turned her back on him and walked over to Carla, placing a stethoscope on her chest. Julian was ignored by the other workers who were scuttling around behind Dr. Kay, and eventually he just turned around and slinked out the door.

"Wendy, check the blood ox level on the two little ones, make sure they're not dying. And Asher, start preparing the antidote, I won't relax until we wake them all up. Dawaan, check out that boy's head, make sure he doesn't have a concussion" Dr. Kay commanded, and immediately there was a flurry of people around Carla, Mhare, and Tommy.

Dr. Kay made her way over to Hershel. Judith strained to observe what she was doing without giving away that she was awake. The woman studied Hershel's face for a second, before she pulled up one of his eyelids and shined a light in his eye. She then did the same on his other eye. She muttered to herself as she worked, taking a cuff and wrapping it around Hershel's arm, and then squeezing a strange looking balloon. Judith watched the cuff get tighter and tighter as the woman squeezed the balloon more and more.

 _She's hurting him!_ Judith thought, and her fingers balled up into fists. Discreetly she felt for her knife. It was still there, but her hands were strapped down so she couldn't reach it.

"Blood pressure's normal on this one" Dr. Kay yelled to one of the people who were holding a notebook. The person nervously recorded whatever Dr. Kay was saying.

Suddenly, an alarm went off in the building, and a message came over the loudspeaker.

 _Whoop Whoop, Code Red, Room 152. Whoop Whoop, Code Red, Room 152._

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing. "What the fuck" Dr. Kay muttered with a sigh. "Okay, let's go folks!" she shouted, and everyone followed her out the room, the last person shut the door behind them, locking the children in. As soon as Judy heard the door lock, her eyes popped open. She turned her head and saw that Joy's were wide open as well.

Joy pointed to Judy's knife and made a gesture as if she were cutting through the straps. Judy was sure she could maneuver and take out her knife if she really had to, but cutting through the straps wasn't smart. Even if they escaped their bonds, they were still locked in the room, the rest of their family was still sleeping, and she knew the people would be coming back soon.

"Joy, can you get out of the straps without cutting them?" Judy whispered, eyeing her sister's smaller wrists.

Joy struggled with the straps on her arms and legs, holding her to the bed.

"No, they're tight. Where are we?"

"They took us. And they took Auntie Maggie, and Enid. I think they want to hurt us."

"No! I want to go home!" Joy whimpered.

"Shhh, they're just outside. If they come in pretend you're sleeping."

"What's wrong with everybody?" Joy asked, her eyes sweeping the room.

"They gave us something to make us sleep. We have to get out of here."

"I want to go home" Joy said again, tears starting in her eyes.

"Joy if you cry right now I'm telling Mommy you weren't brave. Mommy and Daddy taught us how to protect ourselves and we're going to do that. Mommy, and Daddy, and Uncle Daryl, and Uncle Glenn, and Carl, they're gonna come for us. Until then, we know how to keep ourselves safe. Don't let anyone hurt you Joy. If they try to hurt you, you fight them ok? Do you hear me?"

"Ok. I'll be brave."

"Now, play like you're sleeping until we find a way to escape" Judy commanded.

"Okay" Joy sniffled, closing her eyes again.

Within seconds, Judith heard the click of keys in the door. She flopped back on her bed, motionless, as the crowd of people returned. They spoke excitedly as they resumed their work, crowding around Carla, Mhare, and Tommy. Judy could hear the conversation between two women, one older and one younger, that were checking out the wound on Tommy's head.

"The one with the dark hair, they should've given her a bigger dose, I can see she's gonna be a problem. They shouldn't even have taken her. Since when do we collect adults?"

"Well, she was angry. She did wake up in a strange room without her kid."

"If you want to do this line of work, you have to have a tougher shell. You've got to think of the big picture here" the older woman chastised.

"No, I'm just saying, if it were me, I would've freaked out too. I mean, we did kidnap her…" upon seeing the face of the older woman, the younger one trailed off. The older woman ignored what the other young woman just said.

"Well, we know at least one of these kids is hers. If we find out which one, we can get a genetic sample."

"What do you use the genetic samples for?"

"When they die, we use it to compare turning times. There's a few hypotheses going on that some people genetically take longer or shorter to turn than others. We're trying to see if it's really genetics, or lifestyle, bodyweight, or how someone was killed that determines it. That's what they're testing upstairs with Dr. Slevold. And downstairs, Dr. Wyatt does Walker behavioral studies. But don't worry, you got assigned to the best research group. Dr. Kay is studying probably one of the most important things-"

Dr. Kay entered the room in a huff, and all other conversation ended. "Jesus, if I step away from a room for five minutes, everything goes haywire! You'd think they'd be able to handle one woman on their own. Dawaan! Did you find out if that boy has a concussion yet?"

"No… no ma'am… um, Dr. Kay. We just got back from the Code Red… I didn't have time…"

"Excuses, hurry up! He could be bleeding in the head. And where are the antidotes Asher?"

A man around Carl's age proudly held up a box of needles. "Right here Dr. Kay, they're almost prepared."

"Well almost doesn't count does it, son?"

"Dr. Kay, the blood ox levels on the two youngest are normal ma'am" a woman called from where Mhare and Carla were laying.

"Good job Wendy. You see what happens when you take initiative and don't wait for me to ask you something? Ok, Asher gimme two antidotes, I'm gonna administer to the little ones first, they're worrying me the most."

Asher nodded and pulled two needles from the box and gave them to Dr. Kay. Judy began to panic. She didn't want them sticking anything into her brother and niece, but she didn't know how to stop it. The doctor squirted fluid from the tip of the needle to get rid of any air bubbles, and then placed the tip on Mhare's skin.

"Don't touch my brother!" Judy screamed, startling the entire room. Everyone's heads swiveled in Judy's direction. Dr. Kay stopped what she was doing and approached Judy with a fake smile on her face.

"Hello there honey, you're awake! Don't be scared, we're not here to hurt you. How are you feeling?" the woman asked in a singsong voice that made Judy realize the woman didn't think she was a threat.

Michonne's voice rang in Judy's head, ' _don't give away your advantage.'_

 _'_ _You're little, and cute. But you're my daughter. You're a warrior. Be what they don't expect'_ Rick's voice commanded.

"Okay" Judy said in her most feeble of voices. That was the voice she used when she didn't want to go to school and pretended to be sick. Michonne could always see right through that voice, but this woman couldn't.

"You don't sound ok" Dr. Kay said, slightly concerned. She moved a little closer to check Judy out, looking into her eyes and pressing a stethoscope to her chest. Judy tried not to scowl at the woman.

"What are you doing to my brother? Where are we?" Judy asked, still putting on the scared little girl voice.

"I'm trying to help you. All of you breathed in something and it made you go to sleep. I'm just trying to wake him up. Don't worry, I won't hurt him" the woman said, turning her back on Judy and walking towards Mhare to continue giving him the needle. Judy rolled her eyes, not believing the woman for a minute.

"Wait!" Judy called, making the woman freeze and turn to Judy again.

"Where's my Mommy?" Judy asked.

"I'm sure she's fine" the woman said in her same sing song voice. "Which one is your Mommy? I'll tell her you're awake and she can come in and see you." Judy knew the woman wanted to know if Judy's mother was one of the people captured, because she had overheard them speaking about matching the mothers to their children.

"If you take me to where you're keeping everyone, then I can show you who my Mommy is" Judy said, surprising the woman. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I can't take you to her, but describe what she looks like."

Judy's eyes narrowed as well. "I want to go home."

"If you tell me who your Mommy is, I can bring her to you, and then the two of you can go home."

"So why did you bring us _here_ then?" Judy asked.

The woman smirked. "I see you're a very smart little girl. Since you're so smart, you should know that being nice and answering my questions will make things go much better for you. And being bad, and not answering my questions, will get you in trouble. You want to be a nice girl, don't you?"

When Judy didn't answer, she quickly walked back to Mhare's bed, preparing to stick the needle in his arm again. Unable to come up with a way to stop the woman from poking Mhare, Judy let out an earsplitting scream, startling even Joy who was still pretending to be asleep. The woman jumped and spun to look at Judy.

"What? What?" the woman sputtered, looking at Judy in shock.

"Um… I-I'm scared of needles" Judy said.

"Well, you'll get over that fear soon enough" the woman said evilly, "or… you won't". She then stuck the needle into Mhare's arm and injected him with a substance. The woman changed needles and moved to Carla who was also still sleeping, injecting her as well. When she got to Tommy, his eyes fluttered open. He looked at the woman, bewildered.

"Well aren't you a lucky boy" she said, "you saved yourself from getting a prick."

Tommy stared at the woman as if waiting for his eyes to clear. He then glanced around the room, spotting Judy who was tied down.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The woman ignored his question and moved on to Joy, who was still faking sleep. Judy didn't want Joy to get stuck with whatever the woman had in that needle, so she called "it's okay JoyJoy". Joy's eyes snapped open and she screamed when she caught sight of the needle the woman was holding.

"Stop your yelling" the woman commanded, dropping her pretense of being nice.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked, while trying to wiggle out of his restraints.

"Listen to me. We are not trying to hurt you, but if you don't cooperate we certainly can. If you behave yourselves we will let you go home to your parents. We just need to do a few tests, and then we'll let you go. We are just trying to help you. We're trying to see if you're healthy. That's it. I promise we will take you to your parents after the tests."

None of the children responded, so the woman continued talking.

"Now" the woman said, turning on her singsong voice again, "the first thing I need, is for you to tell me what your moms look like. We have two moms here, but I don't know whose moms they are. If you tell me what she looks like I can bring her to you. So, would you like to start?" the woman asked, turning to look at Tommy.

He looked at the woman, and then Judy, sensing the defiance in Judy's eyes. His eyes then narrowed. "My mom wore the skin of the Walking Ones on her face. She covered her body with the blood of her enemies. If you had my mom, you'd be a Walking One already."

The woman let out a gasp at Tommy's threat. "So, your mom was one of the savages who run around with those masks. Interesting" she said, pointing to the woman who was taking notes. The woman quickly jotted something in her notebook. "I assume she's dead?"

Tommy just stared, and the woman wrote more in her notebook.

"And you?" she asked, turning to Judy.

"My mom's going to kill you" Judy said.


End file.
